NAON News

Claire McMahon, UVA Health  (Charlottesville, VA)

Nominated by Lori Bennington

Claire has taken on a new role as the nurse practitioner covering both the outpatient Orthopaedic Trauma and Orthopaedic Oncology groups. (She is also providing coverage for the Sports Medicine group during their staffing shortage.) Claire is always quick to provide assistance to staff and patients alike. She is a center to the team and a positive asset for sure!

Christina Kurkowski, Marshfield Clinic (Wausau, WI)

Nominated by Manivanh Walport

She is an amazing NP, teacher, and mentor for all.  She takes you under her wing and shares her knowledge with you.  You never feel like you are asking a dumb questions and then she explains things in a way you can understand.  Patients love her caring, kind soul.

Jennifer Traverse, Mayo Clinic (Jacksonville, FL)

Nominated by Jessica Pelkowski

Jen is a mother, 3x book author, 2x TEDx speaker, meditation leader, health coach, healer, and all-around amazing person. She's also the best orthopaedic nurse I've ever met. She selflessly puts the needs of patients above her own and spends every day making patients' lives better.

Erica Pitchford, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA)

Nominated by Pauling Andujo

Erica created templates for the nurses of individualized discharge instructions for each surgeon, and streamlined discharge planning for the orthopaedic/trauma patients. She is trained as an wound care resource. She was involved in co-creating an orthopaedic guidelines resource book for new staff education.

Veranika Mejbaryan, Cedars Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA)

Nominated by Kathy Breda

Veranika is our Transitional Care Coordinator for older adult fracture patients. She helps the patients and families feel safe and cared for during a physically painful and emotionally difficult period.  She is knowledgeable, patient and kind and exemplifies the qualities of an excellent orthopaedic nurse.

5West Ortho Nurses, AdventHealth East Orlando (Orlando, FL)

Nominated by Coral Davila-Carro

This team has dedicated itself to learning and preparing themselves to a new patient population (hip/knee and spine). All very excited to start this new journey together!

Coral Davila-Carro, AdventHealth East Orlando (Orlando, FL)

Nominated by Rachael Lehr

Coral is a great nurse and leads our team as an ANM. She is always calm and collected with a kind, positive attitude. Coral is always willing to help and cares about her team.

Marcia Hamilton, AdventHealth East Orlando (Orlando, FL)

Nominated by Rachael Lehr

Marcia is a strong leader and patient and team member advocate. Marcia is a great resource and as we add spine and joint programs to our unit, in addition to foot and ankle, her previous ortho experience will help to support our team.

Michele Messersmith, AdventHealth East Orlando (Orlando, FL)

Nominated by Rachael Lehr

Michele has a calm and comforting presence. As an ANM she doesn't hesitate to help her team and recognize their hard work.

Andrea Araya, AdventHealth East Orlando (Orlando, FL)

Nominated by Rachael Lehr

Andrea is positive, kind and always pleasant to be around. She is a great leader for our team and lends a hand where needed. We miss her on day shift but are proud that she is a night ANM!

Linda Talabert, AdventHealth East Orlando (Orlando, FL)

Nominated by Rachael Lehr

Linda is positive and fun to be around. She never appears stressed or hurried in the care of our patients- she takes great care of them, and she cares about her team as well.

Crystal Bynoe, AdventHealth East Orlando (Orlando, FL)

Nominated by Rachael Lehr

Crystal is consistently recognized by patients for her great care. She is kind, funny, and maintains a level-head no matter the day. With her prior orthopedic experience, she will be a great resource for our team as we add spine and joint to our existing foot and ankle program.

Tina Ottson, ProHealth Care (Waukesha/Oconomowoc, WI)

Nominated by Amy Davis

Tina is an amazing orthopedic nurse. She is the chair of Chapter 87 of NAON and works to improve outcomes of orthopedic patients.

Stephanie Reinke, ProHealth Care (Waukesha/Oconomowoc, WI)

Nominated by Amy Davis

Stephanie is our orthopedic nurse navigator and does an amazing job!

Morgan McKnight, The Ohio State University Hospital East (Columbus, OH)

Nominated by Lisa Lewis

Morgan started as a Student Nurse on Ortho and has been a practicing RN for a year and a half. She provides excellent patient care, but more importantly, she is such a caring and supportive teammate. She is always looking for ways to boost morale.

Madonna Doyle, Barton Memorial Hospital (South Lake Tahoe, CA)

Nominated by Rachelle Pakes

Madonna pioneered our Joint Commission Certified Total Joint Replacement program at Barton. She is dedicated to producing high-quality work, communicates effectively with the multi-disciplinary team, and provides patient-centered care, and meets patients where they are at. She is a stellar Nurse Navigator and has been an incredible mentor to me.

Analyn Lazo, AdventHealth East Orlando (Orlando, FL)

Nominated by Mamata Patel

Analyn's patients are always her number one priority. She is receptive, reliable and supports our team by frequently training new team members.

Carol Harvey (Jackson, WY)

Nominated by Marisa R Swain

Carol has been an ongoing resource and inspiration for orthopedic nursing. She has taught many of us value of a good, thorough neuromuscular assessments. She is a great patient and nurse advocate.

Annie Chacko, AdventHealth Celebration (Celebration, FL)

Nominated by Lisa Phillips

Annie provides her patients an excellent experience. She is kind, detail-oriented, and an excellent patient advocate.

Wanda Santiago, AdventHealth Celebration (Celebration, FL)

Nominated by Lisa Phillips

Wanda is a wealth of orthopedic knowledge. She is a fierce patient advocate and dedicated to exceptional orthopedic nursing practice. She is kind and caring, and her patients speak so highly of her.

Shanna Butler, AdventHealth Celebration (Celebration, FL)

Nominated by Lisa Phillips

Shanna is dedicated to ensuring positive patient outcomes in her orthopedic nursing practice. She is thorough in her patient care and is detail oriented. She asks great questions and has been helpful in process improvement initiatives for our patients.

Konie Anderson, AdventHealth Celebration (Celebration, FL)

Nominated by Lisa Phillips

Konie is dedicated to providing exceptional patient care. She is detail-oriented and ensures her patients are receiving quality care every time.

The Past NAON Presidents

The past presidents have given NAON a pool of talent in a huge variety of locations. They represent sub-specialties across the field of Orthopaedics. They gave time and shared passion. The past presidents of NAON surely deserve to be honored!