The official site of the Phillipine Nurses Association of America
The official site of the Phillipine Nurses Association of America
Category I
Clinical Nurse of the Year
Sarla Duller (PNA-Southern California)
Ms. Duller is the Liver Transplant Nurse Practitioner at the Veterans Affairs
Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Her significant contributions to the practice
of nursing in general, and to PNAA in particular that have positive impact on patient care,
are numerous and extended beyond the bedside. For example, while working in critical care,
she created an algorithm to determine competence of experienced critical care nurses. This
facilitated the assignment of newly hired critical care nurses through a structured orientation program.
She has led a performance improvement project that championed early access to care. She also led the
implementation of Colon Cancer Screening Clinic to help alleviate No Shows and cancellations which
adversely affected missed opportunity scores.
Additionally, her numerous meritorious contributions had been recognized
by other professional and community organizations. Among them are: Twenty
Outstanding Filipino American Nurses in Greater Los Angeles (2001), Selected
to the Adult Nurse Practice Content Expert Panel, American Nurses Credentialing Center (2006);
PNAA President’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Mission of PNAA (2006); and Incentive
Award for sustained superior level of performance as the first NP, VA Greater LA Healthcare System
(VAGLAHS) Liver Transplant Program (2006). She also received multiple PNAA PRIDE awards for best Editorial
and Chapter Newsletter that included clinical vignettes. She was a recipient of a Special Contribution
Award given by the Chief of Medicine, VAGLAHS in 2006 for her unique contribution to the mission of the Department.
Category II
Clinical Nurse Administratory of the Year
Jeanette Livelo (PNA-New England)
Ms. Livelo is the first Filipino nurse to assume a Nurse Manager and a Patient Care Director
role in a critical care setting (ICU) in major teaching hospitals within the Boston area. This
nurse leader exemplifies her role as someone who looks upon her position as a facilitator of the
hospital’s mission and goals for the patients, their families and the nursing staff. She has a
reputation for establishing collaborative working relationships. She has great initiative and is
highly innovative, creative, with team building expertise.
Known for her patient safety and quality improvement initiative, she led the institution to
embrace the Institute of Health Care Improvement’s (IHI) initiatives in the critical care area.
She promoted the100K Saved lives campaign and the 5 million lives campaign, including but not
limited to prevention of central line infection (achieved results below National Standard, currently
at 0.48 with a goal of zero); prevention of ventilator associated pneumonia (achieved goal of zero
incidence for nine consecutive months); prevention of surgical site infection and provides leadership
to successfully launch the Rapid Response Team-a 2008 National Safety Goal and a Joint Commission directive by 2009.
She received numerous honors and awards from the professional organization and community. Among them are: Nurse of the
Year by PNA New England, Diversity Research Initiative Committee by University of Massachusetts, Boston; Certificate
of Recognition from PNAA President for Eastern Regional Convention Oct 2001 and Chairman, Host Chapter for National
Convention in 2006, Leadership Award 2007 and PNANE Nursing Management 2008.
Category III
Nurse Researcher of the Year
Majuvy Sulse (PNA-New Jersey)
Majuvy Sulse’s achievement demonstrates the excellence that Filipino nurses bring to the nursing profession. Her research on
"A Study on the Acculturation of Foreign Educated Nurses" proved to be valuable not only to all the healthcare systems
in New Jersey but as far as Alicante, Spain and was awarded "Best in Application of a Nursing Theory or Model".
Her research has made an impact on the recruitment and retention of foreign educated nurses that affects most healthcare
institution as they responded to the nursing shortage. It has been in peer reviewed research conferences such as the Eastern
Nursing Research Society, Isabel Stewart Conference at Teachers College, Columbia University, VA Nurses day celebration in
Philadelphia and VA Asian Pacific celebration in New Jersey and the American Organization of Nurse Executives, New Jersey and
at the annual international conference of the Transcultural Nursing Society.
She received numerous awards for her significant contributions to nursing profession.
Among them were: Excellence in Nursing Award by VA Healthcare System; MSN Leadership Award
by Kean University; Research Award, Best application of Nursing Theory by Transcultural Nursing Society;
and CARE Awards in Research by the Philippine Nurses Association of New Jersey.
Majuvy is a person with true heart, a catalyst for change, a dedicated nurse and a passionate educator.
She is not only a leader at work or school but in her church and community. She has earned recognition for
her research paper on Acculturation not only at the workplace, but mostly in different organizations.
Category V
Community Service Nurse of the Year
Alice Andam (PNA-Metro Washington DC)
Alice Andam was a founding member of PNA of Metropolitan Washington D.C. in 1970
and is currently serving as its President. Currently, she is working as an RN III in a
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, D.C. She is
an active member of the Institution Ethics Forum, a multidisciplinary membership to address ethical
issues on patients, families and caregivers.
She served as the Organizer and Coordinator for seven successful Medical Missions since 2002
to a grand total of 21,691 indigent patients in the different locations in the Philippines.
Additionally, Alice coordinated first aid services to the annual African American Heritage Day in Accokeek,
Maryland; to the pilgrimage group at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
She is a recipient of numerous awards from professional organization and community. Some of her prestigious awards were
"Ambassadorial Award Key to the City" by Office of the Mayor, Cebu City, Philippines; "Professional Achievement on Global Advocacy and
Certification of Magnet Champion Recognition" by the Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.;
"Top 100 Extraordinary Nurses in the Washington Metropolitan area" by Gamma Beta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing,
Howard University, Washington, D.C. and "Certificate of Appreciation as Modern Day Hero" by the Embassy of the Philippines.
Professionally and personally Alice had helped about forty or more Filipino nurse who came on H-1 Visa and found no jobs
and were exploited financially by their recruiter in the Philippines. These nurses are now successful in
their own way in the Metropolitan Washington, DC.
Category VI
Nurse Entrepreneur of the Year
ACorazon Vizcarra (PNA-Indiana)
Ms. Cora Vizcarra is an infusion nurse consultant and founder/president of MCV &
Associates Healthcare Inc. a privately owned healthcare consulting and education corporation based in
Indianapolis, Indiana. Cora is a certified registered nurse in infusion therapy, a certification awarded
by the Infusion Nurses Society. She is actively involved in many professional medical and nursing organizations
such as the Infusion Nurses Society, the Philippine Nurses Association of America and Philippine Nurses Association
of Indiana. She currently serves as the President for the Infusion Nurses Society. She has written many articles for
publication in trade and professional journals and textbooks. In 2004, she received the prestigious member of the year
award from the Infusion Nurses Society and in 2000 received a special recognition award from the Infusion Nurses Society
for her contribution to the publication "Policies and Procedures for Infusion Nursing". In 2002, she was awarded member of t
he year and in 2008, was awarded the Nurse Leadership Award by the Philippine Nurses Association of Indiana. She has more than
20 years of healthcare experience in both the hospital and alternate healthcare settings. She is a nationally recognized speaker
in the specialty of infusion nursing and biologic therapy.
Her knowledge, hard work, integrity, generosity, respect for others and dedication to nursing
contributed greatly to the success of her company and benefited not only her clients but her employees and professional colleagues.