Islander to receive Nurse of Year Award
Islander Patti Damuck, an emergency room nurse at Eastern Long Island Hospital, will receive the Laura Goodale Nurse of the Year Award for 2017 presented by the Rotary Clubs of Southold and Greenport at a dinner at Hellenic Restaurant June 20.
The award was established in 1986 and named for a former ELIH nurse who served the hospital for 42 years. Laura Goodale had been recognized with the Florence Nightingale Award for her dedicated service to the hospital.
Ms. Damuck has been on the hospital staff for 40 years and is retiring at the end of the summer.
“They didn’t have to give it to me,” she said about the award. “It feels really nice to be acknowledged,” she said.
“There was a time when it was just me and the ER physician in the Emergency Department,” Ms. Damuck said.
She recalled accompanying patients who had to be transferred to a large trauma center and she would sit side by side with the patient for the helicopter trip.
Ms. Damuck oversees triage, trauma and patient care and is certified in basic life support, advanced cardiac life support and pediatric advanced life support.
“Patti is so very deserving of the Laura Goodale Award,” said Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer D. Patricia Pispisa. “Her calm and friendly demeanor puts everyone at ease,” Ms. Pispisa said.
