Red Cross Award Fosters Nurse Involvement

Lincoln, Nebraska Red Cross Receives Susan Hassmiller Award

WASHINGTON, Friday, June 06, 2008 — More nurses in the Lincoln, Nebraska, area will soon be getting involved in the mission of the American Red Cross. That is because Lincoln’s Cornhusker Chapter today received the first-ever Susan Hassmiller Nursing Award. The award, which was created in 2007 to recognize Susan Hassmiller’s long and dedicated Red Cross volunteer service and achievements, supports nurse participation in Red Cross service delivery programs.

Susan Hassmiller, a former member of the American Red Cross Board of Governors, presented the award at a ceremony in the Cornhusker Chapter offices. “This is very special for me,” said Hassmiller. “I was very involved in the chapter when I was on the college of nursing faculty of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln campus, in the 1980s. I am delighted to provide this award to old friends who share my goal of connecting the Red Cross with professional and student nurses, public health workers and emergency management personnel.”

The Hassmiller Nursing Award and accompanying grant make it possible for the Lincoln chapter to offer an online workshop that ultimately will recruit additional nurses as American Red Cross disaster health services volunteers.

The workshop will also give potential volunteer nurses an overview of what happens within a community when a disaster hits and the role nurses have in the recovery process. Nurses will learn how to develop a disaster preparedness plan and kit for their own families. Workshop participants will also receive professional continuing education units.

Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, began volunteering for the Red Cross when in college and serves the organization as a leader and as a disaster responder. She is employed at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundationa in Princeton, New Jersey, as a Senior Program Officer and Team Leader.

About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and counsels victims of disasters; provides nearly half of the nation's blood supply; teaches lifesaving skills; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization – not a government agency – and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its humanitarian mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at www.redcrosschat.org.