Maplewood Nurse To Be Honored By The New York Yankees

MAPLEWOOD, NJ - Jan Kaminsky, PhD, RN, has been selected as one of 10 New York Yankees Nurse Heroes, and will be honored at the game on June 20.

According to officials, the New York Yankees are hosting the 1st annual outing at Yankee Stadium as the Yankees take on the Houston Astros. Ten nurses will be honored on the field at Yankee Stadium and one special nurse will receive VIP suite tickets.

"One of the ten of us will receive tickets to bring our families to the Delta Sky Suite, which as children of civil servants my kids and I have never seen," Kaminsky posted on social media. "Won't you take pity on my children and give them their one chance to see their dear old mother from that vantage point?"

According to the nominating letter, Kaminsky is a tireless nurse advocate for some of the most vulnerable members of the population. She has worked with and for LGBTQ+ youth in a variety of positions, from a bedside nurse assisting youth at risk for suicide to a community organization that she co-founded to provide the important intervention of social and family support for transgender youth.

The rest of the nomination posting follows:

"LGBTQ+ youth are at particular risk for bullying, which has been found to begin as early as fifth grade. We know that bullying, harassment, and intimidation set vulnerable students up for higher risk of substance use, mental health concerns, and self-harm including suicide risk. For example, the Centers for Disease Control recently reported that for transgender high school students, 34.6 percent of students had attempted suicide in the past 12 months.

LGBTQ+ students also expressed high rates of sexual risk-taking behavior; rape and other victimization; absenteeism from school to avoid violence or threats of violence either en route to/from school or during the school day; feelings of depression or hopelessness; and increased use of hard drugs. Jan is determined to improve the health of LGBTQ+ youth and improve these distressing statistics with her work with LGBTQ+ youth through education, activism, and community organizing.

She also is married with three children, is a Professor at the City University of New York, the Founder of the National LGBTQ+ Nurses Association, and the Director of Education for Rainbow Health Consulting. She should be very proud of her community health work and is truly an example of what a nurse should be.

'Her work with youth saves lives every single day, and she should be commended for it,' her nominator notes. 'I can't think of a more deserving person to be honored at the New York Yankees Nurse Night!'"

The first 4,000 tickets sold will receive a special New York Yankees Scrub, officials noted.

"Please vote, thank you," Kaminsky said. "One vote per email address. The blue voting box itself is midway down the page just past the names and bios."

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