'She is the voice of nursing': Onslow County nurse wins national Gannett Media award

A nurse in Onslow County was nationally recognized for her dedication to the profession.

Anne Gerichten, a nurse at Onslow Memorial Hospital, was presented a national award Monday for Gannett Media Group's Kindness is Contagious campaign. Gannett, the owner of The Jacksonville Daily News, selects a local healthcare worker each month to recognize for their continuous hard work in the frontline of the healthcare field.

Those local winners also have the chance to win a monthly national prize of $5,000. Gerichten was awarded that national prize on Monday afternoon.

"She said she's very accustomed to being behind the scenes and this is no different," said Onslow Memorial Hospital CEO Dr. Penney Burlingame Deal. "Anne feels that she is the voice of nursing and in so many ways. Not just as a recipient of this award, but also in real practical time, in making leadership aware in a really unabashed way that there are things that we could do better. We're appreciative of that, she's the voice of nursing and we love her for it."

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Deal said Gerichten has worked as a nurse educator and an OR (operating room) nurse.

Gannett Sales Executive Stacey Spencer and Regional Ad Director Cheryl Theiss presented the check to Gerichten in front of both her family and colleagues. Deal said with everything caregivers have been through over the past couple of years, the award recognizes that there are some folks out there who are very dedicated, have the expertise and are committed to the role they serve as caregivers.

"I love being a nurse," Gerichten said. "That's it. All I ever wanted to be was a nurse. I also wanted to marry a handsome prince; I wanted to go to the ball, which I did; and I wanted a boy and a girl, and I got a boy and two girls."

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Theiss said this campaign is a wonderful thing, adding people need to be celebrated, especially those who do so much for the community but don't tell everybody how much they do.

"That's the point of it," Theiss said. "What really excites us is when we have someone local within our own community win the national prize. We celebrate a local winner every month but winning the national prize is really exciting. We're really proud and we appreciate all you do."

Onslow Memorial Hospital has also been recently recognized by U.S. News & World Report in their 2022-23 "Best Hospitals" rankings, according to a Monday news release from hospital Marketing and Communications Coordinator Sophia Bodo. OMH has been rated as "high performing" in the treatment of kidney failure, heart failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Reporter Morgan Starling can be reached at mstarling@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily News: Onslow Memorial Hospital nurse wins national Gannett Media award