Posted: 1/25/2012
People within the Johns Hopkins community have long known that Lillie Shockney is an amazing nurse. Now she’s got the moniker to prove it.
Shockney, administrative director of the Johns Hopkins Avon Breast Center since 1997, was selected as this year’s “Amazing Nurse” in the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future national contest to celebrate and reward nurses’ value. Shockney’s work with breast cancer patients was recognized by Johnson & Johnson during the 2011 CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute show in Los Angeles on December 11.
“I am so excited about this,” Shockney said. “The title really made me feel good. I hope one of the outcomes is that more people making a career decision will consider nursing.”
Shockney, a two-time breast cancer survivor and registered nurse who has been employed by Johns Hopkins since 1983, has worked tirelessly to improve the care of breast cancer patients around the world. She is responsible for the quality-of-care and patient education programs; the survivor volunteer team; community outreach at a local, regional and national level; and the Breast Center’s Web site and patient advocacy.
Shockney also has a joint appointment at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing where she serves as a guest lecturer and distinguished speaker. Marie Nolan, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., professor and chair of the Department of Acute and Chronic Care at the Hopkins’ School of Nursing, who has known Shockney for 25 years and nominated her for the award, said that as soon as she saw learned of the competition she thought of Shockney, who exhibited exceptional leadership skills throughout her career.
“She is a phenomenon, an unstoppable force, a living example of how good can come from suffering and how much good can be accomplished,” Nolan wrote in her nomination letter. “Like a whirlwind, she has changed breast cancer treatment and survival at Johns Hopkins, in the U.S. and globally.”
“If you do a Google search on Lillie Shockney you will literally find tens of thousands of hits,” Nolan says. “Her impact is remarkable.”
Shockney initially was selected as one of 20 semifinalists from several thousand nominees. Johnson & Johnson asked voters to pick their favorite nominee on their contest’s Facebook page. “It became the cause célèbre at the School of Nursing,” Nolan says, “We were really behind her nomination and we wanted her to win.”
Shockney made the next cut, to five finalists, from which she was selected as the top winner by a panel of five national nursing experts.
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