Phoenix Children’s Hospital salutes its best during National Nurses Week

PHOENIX — For National Nurses Week, the Phoenix Children’s Hospital recognized several nurses.

Amanda Yant, nurse clinician for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorder, was named the PCH staff nurse of the year during a ceremony at the hospital on Monday.

She received the award for going above and beyond to achieve the hospital’s mission “to provide hope, healing and the best health care for children and their families.”

“I’m so surprised, and I’m so honored,” Yant said, reacting to the news. “I do try to give every patient and family the care I would want my own child to receive.”

Her interest in nursing started out at an early age. She was diagnosed and treated at PCH for leukemia when she was 3 years old. Yant said that experience sparked her interest in nursing.

“I always said I would be a nurse taking care of kids who are sick,” she said.

At her current role, Yant helps parents understand the treatment their children will be receiving as they battle cancer.

Debra Rudolph, clinical education specialist, got emotional when she talked about getting a nursing excellence award in education by PCH.

“I was floored – very, very touched,” she said.

Rudolph has been a nurse for 40 years. She spent the first 30 years of her career as a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit, during which she was involved in the delivery of about 10,000 newborns.

A recent Gallup poll found nursing is the nation’s most trusted profession. Rudolph said there’s a reason for that. She said people can count on nurses to be honest while at the same time “holding your hand as compassionately as we possibly can.”

Rudolph currently helps coordinate the on-boarding of new hires and helps place nursing students throughout PCH. She said her advice to new nurses – don’t be judgmental.

“Park your judgment as far away as you can,” she said. “We have to accept people for exactly who they are and the situations they are in.

“Certainly we come with preconceived ideas of how a situation should be,” she added. “But accept it for as it is and don’t be judgmental.”

Yant said she advises new nurses to not let the challenges of the profession get them discouraged.

“There are going to be good days and there are going to be bad days,” she said, adding there will be moments where “you’ll know you’re in the right spot.”

In addition to Yant and Rudolph, two other PCH nurses were honored. Erica Olson received the nursing research and evidenced-based practice award and Tracy Herbert was named the transformational leader.

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