Simms/Mann Family Foundation Recognizes Extraordinary Nurses in Second Year of “Off the Chart: Rewarding Nursing Greatness” Campaign
May 01 2024 - 8:15AM
As National Nurses Week is set to kick off, the Simms/Mann Family
Foundation today announced the 2024 recipients for their Off the
Chart: Rewarding Nursing Greatness recognition, a first-of-its-kind
gift honoring extraordinary nurses at a time when the nursing care
crisis grows in urgency and significance on a national and global
scale. In its second year, the campaign is recognizing 40
remarkable nurses from four leading Los Angeles-area health systems
– Cedars-Sinai, City of Hope, UCLA Health and Keck Medicine of USC
– thanking each nurse with an unrestricted, financial gift of
$10,000 honoring their nursing greatness.
The Simms/Mann Family Foundation created Off the Chart:
Rewarding Nursing Greatness, a minimum three-year campaign, to
serve as an urgent call-to-action to reverse the alarming numbers
and trend of nursing talent exiting the profession. Currently, more
than a third of nurses are considering leaving the profession, only
20 percent report feeling valued, and violence against nurses has
reached an all-time high. Surveys of nurses indicate the factors
that most influence their career longevity include advancement and
compensation, better support for work-life integration, and safe
working conditions and workload, all which translate to improved
patient safety, better experiences, and outcomes for all. Off the
Chart: Rewarding Nursing Greatness aims to elevate the breadth and
depth of nursing expertise, spotlight the critical role nurses play
as clinical experts holding together our increasingly strained
healthcare systems, and catalyze others to invest in nurses.
“When we conceived the Off the Chart campaign in 2022, our
instincts and experience told us that nurses and nursing were not
receiving the massive investments needed to stem the alarming tide
of nurse departures and address the resulting shortage of nursing
care that makes us all less safe,” said Victoria Mann Simms, Ph.D.,
president, Simms/Mann Family Foundation. “Nursing shortages lead to
delays in routine screenings, diagnosis, and treatment; increased
healthcare costs; and unmanageable nurse workloads. Yet a recent
report from the American Nurses Foundation found that only one
penny of every dollar of healthcare philanthropy is directed to the
nursing profession (source: Philanthropic Support for the Nursing
Profession) and the vast majority of funding focuses on training
new nurses rather than addressing the systemic factors that lead to
nurse attrition. This finding confirmed our instincts and
strengthened our resolve to invest in nurses and encourage others
to join us - the health of our nation depends on it.”
This year, the Simms/Mann Family Foundation collaborated with
four Los Angeles-based partner healthcare organizations to identify
and recognize ten nurse recipients from within each organization.
Forty Off the Chart recipients were selected from a wide range of
endeavors, settings, and various career stages – particularly
focusing on nursing greatness that has limited visibility, goes
uncelebrated, or is unacknowledged by traditional metrics.
Recipients exhibit a bias towards action; a capacity for
self-direction; originality and creative instincts; courageous and
bold thinking; and the potential to achieve even more.
“Nurses are the key to more cost-effective, higher-quality, more
equitable health care for all. They make up the largest portion of
the healthcare workforce and their vast clinical knowledge and
expertise positions them as innovators and leaders within our
healthcare systems,” said Kate Judge, recent Executive Director,
American Nurses Foundation. “Our astounding finding that only 1
percent of healthcare philanthropy goes to nursing and that only
three out of every 100 grants for nurses focus on investing in
nurse leadership or nurse-led innovation means there is enormous
opportunity for people, foundations, and companies to redirect
their resources to this underfunded area. I applaud the Simms/Mann
Family Foundation for creating the Off the Chart campaign to
broaden public awareness of the essential role and expertise of
nurses and catalyze the urgent action and investment in nurses that
our nation needs.”
The Simms/Mann Family Foundation will celebrate the Off the
Chart: Rewarding Nursing Greatness recipients at a May 28 event
featuring remarks from globally recognized nurse innovator Etti
Rosenberg.
“In addition to making nurses’ expertise publicly visible on a
national scale, we hope to encourage nurses to grow in the
profession by empowering them to recognize their own strengths and
exceptional work, advocate for themselves and each other, and
become leaders and activists within and outside their
organizations,” continued Mann Simms. “We are excited that many of
last year’s recipients have already used the Off the Chart
recognition as a launching pad to help create programs that support
the safety and well-being of their colleagues and address the
specific needs of the people and communities they care for.”
The remarkable stories of the 2024 Off the Chart nurses can be
found at: http://offthechart.simmsmannfoundation.org.
ABOUT OFF THE CHART: REWARDING NURSING
GREATNESSOff the Chart: Rewarding Nursing Greatness is a
first-of-its-kind monetary gift funded by the Simms/Mann Family
Foundation recognizing extraordinary nurses at a time when our
nation faces a dire nursing workforce and nursing care crisis. The
campaign aims to elevate, enliven, and enrich the public’s
understanding of nurses as clinical specialists and subject matter
experts holding together our strained healthcare systems,
delivering essential services, and strengthening local economies
while serving as a catalyst to urgently increase investment in
nurses. To learn more about Off the Chart’s inspiring 2024
recipients, visit http://offthechart.simmsmannfoundation.org.
ABOUT SIMMS/MANN FAMILY FOUNDATIONThe
Simms/Mann Family Foundation is a private organization dedicated to
strategically funding innovative educational programs and social
services that promote well-being and economic self-sufficiency for
all. The Foundation was established in 1984 and is based in Beverly
Hills, Calif.
ABOUT AMERICAN NURSES FOUNDATIONAmerican Nurses
Foundation is the charitable and philanthropic arm of the American
Nurses Association (ANA), with the mission to transform the
nation’s health through the power of nursing. The Foundation
supports research, education, and systems-transforming programs,
which improve health, wellness, and patient care. For more
information visit www.nursingworld.org/foundation
Please contact:
Tania Weinkle
tania@taniaweinkle.com