More than 250 members of the Federation of Nurses/UFT gathered at UFT headquarters on May 6 to celebrate National Nurses Recognition Day, the kickoff to National Nurses Week, at the union’s second annual Nurse Recognition Day Celebration. UFT Vice President for Non-DOE Members Anne Goldman, who also heads the federation, welcomed the assembled nurses, offering special greetings to members from Brooklyn’s Lutheran Augustana nursing home, who joined the union in March, and praised the evening’s awardees, who also spoke. The event was a “phenomenal success,” Goldman said. “Our nurses do tremendous work for the patients under their care and they deserve to be recognized for it. We hold this event to let them know that we appreciate all they do for our communities and our union.”

Nurses also signed up for the federation’s annual lobby day on May 12 and its Professional Issues Conference, which will take place on Nov. 20 and 21. Veteran visiting nurse Barbara Wisdom, selected by the New York State United Teachers, the UFT’s statewide affiliate, as its Health Care Professional of the Year, said she was honored to receive the award. “As a little girl growing up in rural Jamaica, I knew in my heart that I would set out to be a nurse,” she said. “The union has given me the strength always and the encouragement. You have to speak as if you believe in your rights.” Four other nurses were also recognized. Joyce Lowman, of the Visiting Nurse Service, received the Homecare Nurse of the Year Award; Robert Cain, of the Lutheran Medical Center, was named the Hospital Nurse of the Year; Rosamund Elbourne, also of the Visiting Nurse Service, was honored as the Retiree Nurse of the Year; and Lila Shams, also of Lutheran Medical Center, earned the Trailblazer Award.