CURE Media Group, the industry-leading multimedia platform devoted to cancer updates and research that reaches more than 1 million patients, survivors and caregivers, has named Maria Lim, B.S.N., RN, OCN, BMTCN, the winner of the 2021 Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing, which honors nurses for their tremendous dedication, expertise and helpfulness in caring for patients.
Jennifer E. Giovanni, Ph.D., MSN, MPH, RN, has been selected as the winner of the 2021 Finest Hour award, which recognizes the selfless achievements of an extraordinary nurse working to provide care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lim and Giovanni were recognized last night during a virtual awards ceremony in conjunction with the 46th Annual ONS Congress. Award winning actor and producer Sterling K. Brown also served as the event’s keynote speaker.
“We are very excited to, once again, recognize nurses who are exemplary in their dedication to improving the lives of their patients,” said Mike Hennessy Jr., president and CEO of MJH Life Sciences™, parent company of CURE Media Group. “CURE® sincerely thanks all of our nurses, and especially Maria and Jennifer, who continue to bring hope and healing to patients with cancer and their loved ones every day.”
Growing up in the Philippines, Lim dreamed of immigrating to the United States. She enrolled in a technical school, studied engineering and, after three years of instruction, began on-the-job training, installing speakers and paging systems on light rail trains. She soon realized she wanted to become a nurse instead. In 1993, Lim earned her RN from the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod, Philippines. A nursing shortage in the U.S. facilitated her getting a job at the Hampton Plaza Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Niles, Illinois, and then the Lutheran Home and Services for the Aged in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Lim got her green card in the early 2000s, applied to the oncology department at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, and got her OCN and certificate in transplant nursing. Lim worked there for 16 years before moving to the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, where she works as an infusion clinical nurse. As a patient advocate, Lim gives her patients hope and helps them deal with psychological as well as physical issues.
Giovanni joined the Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa, in June 1995, and served as a village health worker in the Sahara Desert. Following a tour of duty as a public health commander in the U.S. Air Force, Giovanni attended the UCLA School of Nursing. Keeping her promise to return to Africa, she went to Zambia, East Africa, to work with women and children with HIV/AIDS. Giovanni later received her doctorate in virology, which would prove essential during her year caring for patients amid the West Africa Ebola outbreak. This experience would prepare Giovanni for her current role: working in the intensive care unit (ICU) caring for patients with severe COVID-19. As a travel nurse for Aya Healthcare, Giovanni was among the first crisis response nurses deployed to New York City in the spring of 2020. She had the honor of serving with her fellow ICU nurses at New York University Langone Hospital-Brooklyn and continues to care for ICU patients in the New York City area.
“Bristol Myers Squibb is proud to continue our long-standing support of the Extraordinary Healer® Award, which recognizes the exceptional dedication and service of oncology nurses who play a critical role at the heart of a cancer patient’s care team,” said Samantha Gothelf, Pharm.D., vice president, US Medical Oncology, Bristol Myers Squibb. “We are continuously inspired and uplifted by the unwavering commitment and compassion of the oncology nurse community to improving patients’ lives, particularly amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Most especially, we celebrate the incredible work of Maria and Jennifer who we share in honoring with this year’s awards.”
“As a sponsor of the Extraordinary Healer® Award, we’re proud to recognize the remarkable achievements of nurses who serve on the frontlines and are at the heart of patient care,” said Serge Messerlian, U.S. president, Janssen Oncology. “Now more than ever, it is so important to recognize the valuable contributions and heroism of the nursing community and the difference they make each and every day in the care they deliver to patients.”
Founded in 2007, the annual Extraordinary Healer® Award for Oncology Nursing has received hundreds of nominations and it continues to grow each year. The men and women honored by the award during the last 16 years have been nominated by colleagues, patients, friends and family of outstanding oncology nurses from around the globe. The other 2021 finalists were Jessica Kelley, M.S.N., B.A., RN, CNL, and Katherine Gacek, B.S.N., RN, OCN.
For more information on how to nominate an oncology nurse for the 2022 Extraordinary Healer® Award for Oncology Nursing, click here.
This event is supported by Bristol Myers Squibb and the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.
About CURE Media Group
CURE Media Group is the leading resource for cancer updates, research and education. It combines a full suite of media products, including its industry-leading website, CUREtoday.com; innovative video programs, such as “CURE Connections®” live events; and CURE® magazine, which reaches more than 1 million readers, as well as the dynamic website for oncology nurses, OncNursingNews.com, and its companion publication, Oncology Nursing News®. CURE Media Group is a brand of MJH Life Sciences™, the largest privately held, independent, full-service medical media company in North America dedicated to delivering trusted health care news across multiple channels.
About Bristol Myers Squibb
Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol Myers Squibb, visit BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
