At Wambi, we celebrate the nursing workforce 365 days of the year.

#NursingExcellence #ThankANurse

Every day, nurses across the country go above and beyond the call of duty, providing compassionate, exceptional care in the face of adversity and uncertainty. The beautiful and inspiring collection of gratitude shared each day on the Wambi recognition platform demonstrates the vital necessity of nurses to our communities.

 

This year’s National Nurses Week theme is The Power of Nurses. At Wambi, we are proud to shine a light on meaningful moments and show nurses every day that they make a difference in the lives of so many individuals.

 

In honor of all nurses, we’d like to invite you to join our celebration of uplifting and recognizing the essential contributions of nurses nationwide.

In 2021, Wambi launched the annual Nurse of the Year Award to shine a light on the outstanding nurses we support at Wambi nationwide. 

 

Users of the Wambi platform are encouraged to nominate a nurse who they believe embodies one of Wambi’s core values: Gratitude, Compassion, Joy, Imagination, and Fearlessness. The purpose of the annual initiative is to promote nurse recognition, build a culture of gratitude, and inspire feelings of teamwork and belonging. 

Congratulations to the 2025 Wambi Nurse of the Year and Honorable Mentions

Kathie Ratliff – Wambi Nurse of the Year
Indiana University Health

Kathie was nominated by her teammate Kristina Cast, who said, “Kathie truly goes above and beyond for every ECMO patient she cares for. ECMO is the highest level of life support that you can get at the bedside and these patients are critically sick. For these kids and their families, every second matters and Kathie makes sure to make every moment count. She is kind and empathetic. She wears her heart on her sleeve and, in the past couple of months, she has dealt with some of the most heartbreaking patients. The death of a child isn’t natural and yet she is at the bedside caring for that child and their family with a level of care that is unmatched. She makes families feel seen and makes those awful moments a little brighter just with her presence and compassion.

She continued, “Kathie emits joy everywhere she goes and maintains a positive attitude through the ever-changing medical world. I am honored to have Kathie as a member of my team, and I am confident that I’d want her at the bedside of my own child. She truly is a beam of light through all the darkness that comes with your child being in the ICU. She is an expert in her field and challenges herself to learn every day. If anyone deserves the ‘Nurse of the Year’ award, it is, without a doubt, Kathie Ratliff.”

Kristin Hoffman – Honorable Mention
Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center

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Recognized for her compassion especially with her fetal demise patients; to her peers, she is a “go-to nurse for new ways to connect with patients”

Stephanie Ehlert – Honorable Mention
Marshfield Health System

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Recognized for her patient advocacy, empathy, and ability to foster mutual respect within the clinic; specifically, “her ability to connect with patients on a personal level [which] makes a profound difference in their healthcare experience.”

Kyanna Dyer – Honorable Mention
Indiana University Health

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Recognized for her unwavering empathy, patient family involvement, and commitment to the healing process, including “making homemade back scratchers out of plastic forks” for her patients

Debra Terzino – Honorable Mention
USC Arcadia/Methodist Hospital of Southern California

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Recognized for being the team player who keeps “taking on more roles… to make sure her department and team are organized and ready to face each day. She is looked up to by her department.”

David Bindon – Honorable Mention
Indiana University Health

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Recognized by many of his peers for his mentorship, can-do attitude, and calm presence, which have made a positive impact on the overall emergency department culture. He “is fearless, he will always help with tough cases and effortlessly keeps the ED running.

Debra Terzino – Honorable Mention
USC Arcadia/Methodist Hospital of Southern California

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Recognized for being the team player who keeps “taking on more roles… to make sure her department and team are organized and ready to face each day. She is looked up to by her department.”

David Bindon – Honorable Mention
Indiana University Health

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Recognized by many of his peers for his mentorship, can-do attitude, and calm presence, which have made a positive impact on the overall emergency department culture. He “is fearless, he will always help with tough cases and effortlessly keeps the ED running.

Join us in celebrating these nurses and our previous recipients!

Share Your Gratitude

Share thanks with a hand-written card

Post on social media to engage and inspire

Spread joy with email and newsletter graphics

Resources

Provide support for your teams, spread joy, and celebrate nurses! Share these resources with colleagues, friends, and anyone in your network. 

Moments Move Us

During a Moments Move Us episode, Betty Jo Rocchio, SVP and Chief Nursing Officer at Mercy shares recommendations for creating a better work environment to provides nurses the work-life balance they need.




Nurse Well-Being

Explore tools, courses, and apps to support the mental health and resilience of all nurses thanks to our friends from American Nurses Association\California.

Celebrate nurses during video calls with Wambi backgrounds

Being a nurse requires that we fulfill many roles for the well-being of our patients. We provide the hand to hold, the shoulder to cry on, the ears to listen, and the smile behind the mask! Nursing will never just be a job, it’s a calling.

— Eileen Kuester,  2021 Wambi Nurse of the Year

Want To Shine A Light On Your Nurses?

Invest in your people to improve employee retention and patient satisfaction. The more emphasis the healthcare industry places on emotional health and well-being, the more you’ll see a thriving, inspired workplace with strong organizational performance and team effectiveness. Discover how Wambi’s healthcare experience solution supports your patient care and employee engagement strategy.