Andover Native Suzie Clarke Allen Receives Nightingale Award

John R. Quinn, President & CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association of South Central Connecticut, recently announced that Andover native Suzie Clarke Allen, a Yale University nursing student, will receive a $1,200 scholarship through the Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing program. 

The Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing was originally developed by the VNA/SCC to be a collaborative effort to celebrate outstanding nurses and elevate the nursing profession. The goals of the program are to encourage retention, focus public attention, recognize the breadth and scope of nursing practice at the local level, and inspire future nurses.  To help achieve these goals, for the past ten years, the Nightingale program has provided scholarships to outstanding students from five local nursing schools: Gateway Community College, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, and Southern Connecticut State University, and the Yale School of Nursing.

Suzie Clarke Allen, the recipient from Yale University, graduated from Andover High School in 1998 and served as Program Coordinator for Andover Youth Services from 1998-2010.  She maintains honor grades at Yale, as well as stellar clinical evaluations while raising two small children and commuting from Rhode Island.  She has been selected as a student representative to the External Advisory Committee for Yale School of Nursing and also student representative to the Dean’s Advisory Committee.  Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Frank Grosso, PhD. says that Suzie is “an excellent student and student leader.  She is mature, addressing both client concerns and academic concerns with thoughtfulness and the ability to look at the whole picture.”

All 2013 scholarship recipients will be honored at a special reception hosted by the VNA/SCC on April 8.  In addition, thanks to the generosity of Platinum sponsor Yale-New Haven Hospital, they will be recognized at the Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing, which will be held on Monday, May 13 at Anthony’s Ocean View in New Haven.

For more information about the Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing, including sponsorship information and how to purchase tickets, visit the Nightingale website atwww.nightingalenursingawards.org/newhaven/ or call the Nightingale hotline at 203-859-6765.

To make a contribution to the VNA/SCC in support of this important event, please contact Lindsey Christiani, Community Development Specialist, at 203-859-6054.  You can also donate online atwww.razoo.com/story/Vna-Of-South-Central-Ct.

About VNA Health Systems

VNA Health Systems is comprised of the Visiting Nurse Association of South Central Connecticut (VNA/SCC) and CareSource, Inc.

Founded in 1904, the VNA/SCC, which is the original VNA of New Haven, Milford and the Valley, is a state licensed, non-profit, community-based home health care agency.  The VNA/SCC staff consists of highly skilled nurses, therapists, medical social workers and home health aides.  A vital resource to the communities it serves, the VNA/SCC provides a wide range of specialized clinical services, community programs, the Nurturing Families Network and subsidized care, through United Way funding, to those who are in need.  The agency employs over 230 staff members, has an average daily census of over 1,000 patients and makes over 170,000 home visits per year. The agency is the founder of the Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing. The VNA/SCC is supported in part by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, local United Way organizations, corporate sponsors and individual donors. To learn more about the VNA/SCC visit www.vnascc.org.

CareSource strives to maximize the quality of life for its clients and their caregivers in the home and health care settings. Their services include homemakers, companions and live-in aides. To learn more about CareSource visit www.caresourceinc.org.