GAINESVILLE - Brenau University’s School of Nursing hosted the annual Masters in the Art of Nursing program Wednesday, celebrating contributions of six longtime professional caregivers from northeast Georgia.
The program was initiated six years ago by the late Gainesville business and civic leader “Gus” Whalen.
During the ceremony, half a dozen committee-selected honorees were formally recognized for their work and given an opportunity to discuss their careers, as well as share their thoughts on what makes the craft of nursing so rewarding and unique from other professions.
This year’s honorees run the gamut from county-level administrators to long-time private sector providers.
They are:
Mamie Coker, health services coordinator for the Hall County School System
Robin Dudley, a 1978 Brenau alumna and current university trustee who has taught classes at Thomson High School and Augusta Technical College
Shannon Garner, manager of nursing clinical support services at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center
Deborah Long, a United Health Care HouseCalls practitioner who earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Brenau in 1984
Kevin Meyer, interim director of invasive cardiology at Northeast Georgia Medical Center
Hall County Nurse Manager Alan Satterfield
Whalen, who died on June 21 at the age of 70 and once declared nursing the most honorable career path he could imagine, was also honored at the event.
Partners for the program include the Longstreet Clinic, the North Georgia Heart Foundation, the Northeast Georgia Health System, Sigma Theta Tau International Nu Gamma and the Warren Featherbone Foundation.
