Advocate South Suburban Hospital nurse recognized for outstanding patient care and dedication to nursing

With 25 years as an Advocate Nurse under her belt, this veteran serves as a mentor and role model to her peers. She is passionate about bedside nursing and constantly working to improve her skills and serve her patients. Because she embodies Advocate Health Care’s core nursing values, Terri Cook was recognized a winner of The Advocate Nurse Award.

Terri and the other 15 winning nurses will be recognized by Advocate’s executive leaders in a system-wide celebration taking place in April at the Downers Grove Support Center.

“Each of these nurses live out clinical excellence, compassion, patient-centered wholistic care and other core values of The Advocate Nurse through the work they do every day,” said Susan Campbell, senior vice president and chief nursing officer, Advocate Health Care. “They are our unsung heroes – the heart and soul of Advocate Health Care.”

Terri was nominated by her peers in recognition of her dedication and compassion. She is a valuable resource to the hospital, always staying informed on changes and innovations in nursing and sharing her knowledge with others in order to improve the quality of care patients receive. Terri has a special interest in serving the older population, so she became certified through Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE). She’s also dedicated her free time to the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Terri is highly respected by physicians thanks to her careful record keeping and focus on providing the highest quality care to her patients.

“Terri is an invaluable resource to everyone at the hospital and we are grateful for her years of exceptional service to our community,” said Sharon Otten, Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive at Advocate South Suburban Hospital. “She is a testament to what nursing should be – despite more than two decades in the field, she is open to learning new things and sharing her skills with others. I can’t think of someone more deserving of this award.”

More than 1,000 nurses from Advocate Health Care’s hospitals, home health care, support center and medical offices were nominated for the inaugural award. Nominations were submitted by physicians and associates, including many non-nursing associates, to recognize Advocate nurses who empower,

serve and thrive. These nominations were vetted and presented in blinded format to site-based review committees who scored each according to a metric that took into account each nominee’s passion for patient care, commitment to service, problem-solving abilities and leadership aptitude.

The winners are nurses from a variety of specialties across the patient care continuum who represent diversity in their backgrounds and experiences; some are veteran nurses with more than 30 years of experience while others are relatively new to Advocate or to the nursing profession yet have already made an impact on their patients and colleagues.

Advocate Health Care is the largest employer of nurses in the state of Illinois, employing nearly 11,000 professional nurses across the system’s 12 acute care facilities, more than 450 outpatient locations, home health, hospice, occupational health and corporate services. Nurses represent one-third of Advocate’s workforce. For more information, visit www.advocatenurse.com.