OREANDA-NEWS. May 01, 2013. CURE magazine, the nation’s largest magazine for people with cancer, has announced the three finalists for the 2013 Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing. The contest, made possible with financial support from Amgen Oncology’s Breakaway from Cancer® and Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, invited patients and their families to submit a 400 to 1,000 word essay describing the compassion, expertise, and helpfulness a special oncology nurse exhibited towards them during their cancer journey.

This year’s finalists include Steven Cuzzilla, RN, ADN, from the Myelosuppression/Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in Nashville, Tenn., nominated by Cassi Jones of Ingleside, Texas, Julie Hinson, RN, BSN, OCN, from the Gynecological Oncology department within Salem Cancer Institute at Salem Hospital, in Salem, Ore., nominated by Joyce Lowery, of Okinawa, Japan, and Angela Krach, RN, BSN, from UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, Texas, nominated by Anne Ott, of Metairie, La.

“This year’s finalists represent a very diverse group, but the common link between them all is that each of their stories details how the nurses went above and beyond to make a tremendous impact on the lives of their patients,” says Kathy LaTour, cancer survivor and editor-at-large of CURE.  “Each story is touching and impactful, whether you’re reading Joyce’s essay detailing her experience of recurrence while living overseas and having Julie as her life-line across the world; or hearing Cassi describe what it was like to receive the advice of a lifetime from her nurse, Steven, who dealt with a similar life experience; or hearing the story told by Anne, the wife of a patient whose nurse Angela went to extreme lengths after a stem cell transplant resulted in the couple relocating their lives from Louisiana to Houston, Texas.”

The three nurse finalists and their essayists (plus one guest) will receive round-trip airfare and two-night accommodations in Washington, D.C., where they will be honored at a reception held in conjunction with the Oncology Nursing Society’s 38th Annual Congress on April 25, 2013. This year’s reception is expected to draw more than 700 oncology nurses. The finalists, as well as the ultimate winner, were selected by the staff of CURE Media Group based on how each essay best portrayed the inspirational and exceptional qualities of the oncology nurses –  compassion, expertise, helpfulness, and insight – as well as the originality and creativity of the essay itself.

Academy Award-winning actress and caregiver, Marlee Matlin, will act as the Mistress of Ceremonies. During the reception, the essayists will read their essay on-stage with their nurse standing beside them. Afterward, one of the nurses will be presented with the 2013 Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing and will also receive an all-expenses-paid spa trip for two.

This year’s winning essay will appear in the Summer 2013 issue of CURE, and all three finalist essays will be featured on CURE’s website, www.curetoday.com, beginning June 12, 2013. Additional information about the Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing, including past finalist essays, pictures from last year’s reception and more, can be found online at www.curetoday.com/healeraward. 

More information about the 2013 Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing can be found online at www.curetoday.com/healeraward. 

About CURE Magazine
CURE magazine is a free, award-winning publication from Dallas-based CURE Media Group. By combining science and humanity, CURE helps patients, survivors and caregivers navigate the cancer journey and understand their diagnosis and treatment, while providing tools to cope during and after cancer—ultimately helping them to live the life they aspire to live. Through the magazine and its associated website, an annual resource guide for the newly diagnosed, books, and a variety of resources aimed at enhancing communication between healthcare professionals and patients, CURE provides a wealth of resources for everyone on the cancer journey.  For more information, visit www.curetoday.com. CURE Media Group is affiliated with McKesson Specialty Health, a division of McKesson Corporation.