Graduates honored by Mennonite Nurses Alumni Organization

There was an evening of celebration earlier this month at Mennonite College of Nursing (MCN), as former students were recognized. Sue (Stark) Albee, B.S.N. ’95, was the 2012 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award, which is the highest award the college bestows upon its graduates.

A nontraditional student, Albee served as a Peer Support Person and president of the student nursing organization during her senior year. She is the supervisor of community health services at the McLean County Public Health Department, chair of the John M. Scott Health Care Commission, a member of the Advocate BroMenn Community Health Council, and a member of the America’s Promise Project at Mennonite College of Nursing.

In 2009 Albee was named Employee of the Year at the McLean County Health Department for her work related to the H1N1 pandemic event efforts. Albee lives out MCN’s the mission to serve the underserved and advocates for vulnerable populations. She generously supports Mennonite College of Nursing through her service on the alumni board.

Karen D’Souza, B.S.N. ’06, received the 2012 Early Career Achievement Alumni Award. She was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honors Society and was an active member of the Student Nurses Association at ISU. She worked on the adult oncology and medical/surgical unit at St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

A strong advocate of holistic patient-centered care, she is completing a master of health administration degree at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She believes every patient should receive exceptional care, and aspires to develop solutions to an organization’s safety and quality problems. She has been generous in her annual support of MCN through the Annual Fund.

The 2012 Service Award presented to Rose Stadel, who is vice president of operations for Heritage Enterprises. Stadel has worked in long-term care for 35 years. An active MCN partner, she developed a touch therapy project with MCN for Alzheimer’s residents at Heritage Manor in Normal. She led development of the Joe Warner Teaching Nursing Home Project, named in honor of her late husband. Stadel also developed and has facilitated a monthly support group called Children of Aging Parents.

Stadel serves on the advisory boards of MCN, Heartland Community College Nursing Program, and the Maitland-Warner Long Term Care Scholarship Board. She has been honored by the Illinois Society for Public Health Educators, received the 2007 YWCA Women of Distinction Award, and was named Health Educator of the Year by the Cornbelt Health Educators’ Association. ISU’s Health Sciences Department recognized her with an award for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship in 1997 and as a Distinguished Alumni in 2005.

Megan (Zimmer) Rappleyea, B.S.N. ’10, was selected for The Spirit of Nursing Award. A recipient of the Mennonite Nurses Alumni Association Scholarship and a Transcultural Nursing Scholarship in 2009, she worked diligently as a graduate assistant during her first year of grad school. She served as a tutor and source of encouragement to beginning nursing students. She also taught the breast cancer lecture for Medical Surgical nursing students for two years at MCN.

Diagnosed with a life-threatening illness in 2010, Rappleyea took a leave of absence from the Family Nurse Practitioner master’s program. Rappleyea is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society, and received the OSF Daisy Award in February of 2012. She recently finished her training for a Passages Hospice Volunteer and works on the oncology unit at OSF St. Francis Medical Center. Though she is still a nursing student, she has already made her first gift back to MCN through the Senior Spirit Tassel Program.