Nevia Lennon - Good Samaritan Hospital

Nevia “Via” Lennon is seen as the “go-to” person for fellow clinical nurses who have a question in Good Samaritan Hospital’s Heart and Vascular Unit 1. “When training new nurses,” her nominator states, “she takes the time to be sure they understand the bigger picture. Her orienteers enjoy learning from her and are better nurses because of her example.” One part of that example is building relationships with her patients so they trust that they are being well taken care of. One of her patients was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan (Via herself is a Bengals fan), and the two teams were playing that weekend. Via made the patient a sign for both teams and hung it in her room. Her patient told her team leader how this act of kindness and humor made her day, calling Via her “angel.” Another patient was lonely and wanted someone to hold her hand and sit with her all day and night. Since Via couldn’t be there all the time, she asked the patient’s fiancé to go to the store at 11 p.m. and buy a big teddy bear for the patient. “I like to make people feel better,” she says. “It’s what I do; I’m a nurturer by trade.”