Jessica Ford, BSN, RN; Karoline Myers and Heather Sullivan are recipients of the Patriot Award from the Employer Support division of the National Guard and Reserve.
The Patriot Award is given to a supervisor or manager who makes special effort to support a working National Guard member with flexible scheduling, time off prior to and after deployment, care for families and, if necessary, leaves of absence.
Tamera Norton, BSN, RN, Transitional Care Unit (TCU), made the nominations. Norton, a sergeant in the Army National Guard, has been a combat medic in the Army National Guard for 15 years, and has served one deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She is assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Company 766th Brigade Engineer Battalion in Decatur.
Ford is Norton’s nursing supervisor in TCU, while Myers and Sullivan coordinate scheduling in the Nursing Administration department. “It’s an honor and privilege to work with Tamera,” said Myers. “To know she is training to make our country stronger for my children is reassuring and I’m willing to do what I can to work with her to make this happen.” Sullivan added, “The award means a lot to me simply because it shows I am truly helping my RN not only with her job, but to serve her country.”
“I had tremendous support during an extended training,” said Norton. “They were resourceful in covering my time away in ways that made me feel at ease about missing work at Passavant. They have been supportive of me as a soldier, but they also allow me to succeed in the military. This helps me accomplish both the mission at home and with my unit.”