The annual celebration during Nurses Week to honor the most committed to the profession.

It was a glamorous occasion when 1199 members and staff came together at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan on May 10, to honor the nominees and winners of the annual Nurses of Distinction Awards.

Angela Sanchez, a politically active RN from One Brooklyn Health Brookdale Hospital, won the Hospital Setting prize along with First Runner-up Angelo Toro, from Montefiore Medical Center Wakefield, and Second Runner-up James Moriah, from St. John’s Episcopal Hospital.

As an 1199 Delegate, Sanchez was a vocal champion of the Medicaid equity campaign during the recent New York State budget negotiations. As a healthcare provider at a safety net hospital, she sees firsthand the need for equitable funding.

“I feel very attached to my community. I have been a Union member for almost 20 years, and I know that I am working where I’m most needed and my service can make a real difference,” Sanchez said.

She is also active in her local community in Brooklyn, helping to distribute clothing and toiletries to recently-arrived immigrants on a monthly basis.

Betty Jeanty Bernard, from Schulman and Schachne Institute for Nursing and Rehabilitation— also part of Brookdale University Medical Center—won in the Nursing Home Setting category.

The First Runner-up in that category was Lyubov Zajac, from the Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center.

Two of the newest members of the 1199 family—Caitlin Wing and Brandon Rosario—also attended the celebration. Both are recently graduated RNs from Clara Maass in New Jersey and have been active in the campaign to negotiate a first contract at their facility.

Sheraine Reid-Walters, from Montefiore Medical Center Wakefield, in the Bronx, won in the Novice Nurses category. Oksana Shchudlyak, one of the other nominees, is from Mount Sinai Brooklyn. She emigrated to the U.S. from the Ukraine in 2014, with her husband Amatoliv. Her father has since joined them, as well. Her husband still has family back in Ukraine.

Rachel Glennon, an 1199 RN from Mid Hudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie, was also nominated in the Novice category.

“I have been here for 19 months, and I have never worked in such an amazing place,” she said. “The leadership here believes in me. In the last three months, I have moved into ICU, which was always my goal. I started in progressive care and I’m proud of my growth. I hope I can inspire my co-workers.”

The Nurse Leader category was won by Frantz Dorestant, Jr., from Long Island Jewish Forest Hills Hospital. Gloria Otoo, from St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, took the Advanced Practice RN prize, and Hoda Farghaly, of Mount Sinai Queens Hospital, was the Nurse Preceptor award winner.