Nearly one-third of the nurses named to Celebrate Nursing’s 2014 “Top 100” list are Baptist team members. The 30 nurses listed below represent five Baptist-affiliated entities—Baptist Memphis, Baptist Collierville, Baptist Women’s Hospital, Baptist Trinity Home Care & Hospice and the Baptist Health Sciences University.
- Gloria Baggett
- Cara Beard
- Stacey Black
- Denna Bollinger
- Cindy Borgers
- Melony Bratton
- Tamara Briley
- Latisha Brown
- Cynthia Burgess
- Valerie Burkey
- Linda Byrne
- Teresa Dillinger
- Karen Dunn
- Latonia Green
- Latonya Gunn
- Carol Holmes
- Lisa Hunt
- Diane Lawrence
- Bryon Lester
- Sonja Mahoney
- Madolyn Maupin
- Melanie Mays
- Autumn McCain
- Julie McLarty
- Erica Nabors
- Tamatha Powell
- Jan Reid
- Kandice Walker
- Kittylu Wilbanks
- Tabitha Lynn Woodruff
Two of these nurses – Gloria Baggett, Head Nurse of Baptist Collierville’s ICU, and Dr. Cindy Borgers, Chair of Assessment and Evaluation and Associate Professor of Nursing at Baptist University – were named to the Excellent 11, an honor bestowed upon nurses who stood out from among the top 100.
Gloria’s nominator, Baptist Collierville Chief Nursing Officer Denise Ferguson, describes Gloria as an honest, trustworthy, knowledgeable nurse with a heart of gold, and Gloria’s compassion earns her the admiration of her colleagues. Recently she befriended a homeless cancer patient who was estranged from her family. Baptist Collierville’s social worker arranged for the patient to stay in a shelter after being discharged, but the shelter was closed the day the patient left the hospital. The patient called Gloria for help, and Gloria quickly responded.
She met the patient that evening, found a shelter that would take her until the other place opened on Monday, bought her clothes for the weekend and then paid for her to stay at another shelter until Monday.
“She was young,” Gloria said when asked what motivated her to help the patient. “When she said ‘I didn’t have nothing else to do and nowhere to go,’ [I thought] it’s got to be more than this, you’re too young for this.”
When asked about her reaction to being named to the Excellent 11, Gloria expressed gratitude and confusion. “I feel honored and blessed, but I just don’t understand…this is just what nurses do.”
Cindy’s nursing career spans 33 years and has taken her to the bedside, the Navy and the classroom. She has cared for patients during all stages of life: from very ill newborns who weighed as little as 1 pound to elderly home health patients. Throughout her career, Cindy has pursued learning on the job and in the classroom; she earned a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degree during her career. She’s also given back to her profession through her service in two professional organizations and by serving as a faculty member for nursing students. Through it all, she has demonstrated qualities that motivated Baptist Health Sciences University Dean of Nursing Dr. Anne Plumb to nominate her for Celebrate Nursing’s Top 100.
“Dr. Borgers is a very compassionate and caring professional nurse,” said Anne. “She consistently shows respect for opinions and feelings of others. She communicates in a respectful manner and treats others fairly at all times.”
Cindy summarizes her career with appreciation for the many opportunities she has experienced.
“This is a wonderful time to be a nurse,” she said. “Over the past 33 years my nursing career has presented me opportunities that I could have only imagined.”
Celebrate Nursing Inc., was created in 1987 to recognize excellence in nursing and promote professional nursing by developing programs to recognize professional nursing practice; sharing information about the roles of and opportunities in professional nursing; promoting nursing as a career choice; and inspiring individual and administrative efforts to recognize professional nursing achievements.