10th MDG nurse named Nightingale luminary

  • Published
  • By Don Branum
  • Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  The 10th Medical Group's Perioperative Services Flight commander was recognized as one of six luminaries for the Florence Nightingale Award for Leadership in Clinical Practice during a ceremony in Colorado Springs March 3.

Lt. Col. Lisa Cole and the other luminaries from the Colorado Springs Nightingale Committee will be considered for a Nightingale Award from the Colorado selection committee.

Recommending Cole for the award were 10th MDG Commander Col. Timothy Ballard and 10th MDG Chief Nurse Executive Col. Judy Gavin.

"I have had the pleasure of working with (Cole) for the past six months," Ballard wrote. "Cole's leadership and dedication to the profession of nursing is evident in outcomes of the projects she undertakes. Her actions are truly a testament to the quality of Air Force nursing."

Cole "exemplifies a nursing leader who is sought out for clinical expertise and business acumen," Gavin wrote in her letter of recommendation. Cole was one of five nurses selected from a pool of 330 for the operating room board of directors.

Cole was also instrumental to the joint incentive project between the 10th MDG and the Department of Veterans Affairs, directing more than $650,000 of equipment purchases as well as orientation and training for 15 staff members, Gavin wrote. She has supervised the VA group completing 465 cases in its first year of operations here.

In addition, Cole represents 12 hospitals as a voting member of the Air Force Medical Operations Agency, the Air Force Medical Support Agency and the U.S. Army Medical Information Technology Center for three Defense Department-level medical information systems.

Cole spearheaded the 10th MDG's installation of a surgical scheduling system and anesthesia recording and monitoring device to accurately and electronically document care, Gavin wrote in her recommendation. This, in addition to other improvements to minimize down time between cases, led to the Air Force surgeon general's comment that the 10th MDG's Ambulatory Surgery Unit "is the Air Force's benchmark."

Cole is a native of Lansing, Mich., who joined the Air Force in 1991 after graduating from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. She said she was a little shocked to discover she'd been named as one of the local luminaries.

"It's an awesome award, and I'm excited," she said. "I just see it as doing my job."

The Nightingale Awards were founded in 1985 to honor nurses who best exemplify the philosophy and practice of Florence Nightingale, according to the Colorado Nurses Foundation's website, www.cnfound.org.