National Nurses Week is a celebration and recognition of the invaluable contributions nurses make to patient care. This is the fifth in a series of stories highlighting a few of the many exceptional nurses at Novant Health, as chosen by their peers for going above and beyond in caring for patients.
Gratitude and compassion. Two words Angie Fisher prayed would describe her life in 2016.
She was grateful for the outpouring of kind words from fellow team members after she was named chief nursing officer for Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center in 2015. She was empathetic and wanted to ensure her team showed compassion every day to each other, to patients and to their family members.
On Jan. 21, Fisher tragically died in a car accident. She was an incredible part of the Brunswick Medical Center team and dedicated much of her career to caring for patients in the Brunswick community.
“The loss of Angie was huge to everyone who knew her,” said Shelbourn Stevens, president of Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center. “She was the voice of reason, a resource, a comforter and a friend. And she had an infectious smile.”
As a way to keep Angie’s memory alive, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center is handing out “compassion” pins to team members during Nursing Team Week 2016.
“Angie was using the word compassion long before it became one of Novant Health’s values,” Stevens said. “With these pins, we can encourage our team members to become Angie’s angels and keep pushing forward with compassionate care. It’s a way for us to make sure we put compassion first with every encounter we have with patients, families and team members.”
Stevens said Fisher always had a calming spirit and would constantly remind her team that patient care came first.
The Angela M. Fisher Memorial Education Fund has been set up in Fisher’s memory. The fund will be used for education of team members at Brunswick Medical Center. For more information about the fund, please call 910-721-1473.