UAB Nurse Named Shining Star

Kathryn Burgio, PhD, presented The National Association For Continence’s (NAFC) premier Shining Star Award to Jeannine McCormick, RN, MSN, CRNP at a dinner event, “Building Bridges: A Program Supporting the Role of Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants in Urology” on Saturday, May 29, 2010. The event, supported by NAFC and funded by Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals was held during the 2010 American Urological Association’s (AUA) annual meeting in San Francisco. Dr. Burgio is Co-Director of the clinic where McCormick works and a former member of NAFC’s Board of Directors.

Shortly after completing her Master of Science in nursing as a family nurse practitioner, McCormick worked for Nursing Solutions as the sole provider of continence care for residents of rural nursing homes in Alabama, working with family members and staff to formulate individual plans of care. Currently, she practices at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Continence Clinic, a part of The UAB Division of Women’s Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, where she serves as a patient’s “point of entry” healthcare provider and consistently scores in the top of the Press Ganey Satisfaction Surveys undertaken by UAB. “She not only excels at patient and family education but receives stellar teaching evaluations from fellows, resident physicians, and nursing students. For all of her patients, collaborators, and students, Jeannine McCormick certainly is a shining star,” stated Patricia Goode, MD, Medical Director of UAB Continence Clinic.

Founded in 1992 to provide multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment for men and women with urinary and fecal incontinence as well as to conduct research to improve care for these patients, UAB Continence Clinic now includes nursing, behavioral medicine, geriatrics, urogynecology, urology, colon and rectal surgery, radiology, and gastroenterology and offers treatments from behavioral therapy to the latest robotic surgical procedures. Multiple research protocols are ongoing and those that have been completed have advanced the field considerably. Trainees in multiple disciplines receive education at the UAB Continence Clinic on an ongoing basis.

Nominations for the Shining Star Award were solicited nationwide from among NAFC’s Continence Care Champions – leaders throughout a wide variety of professional societies for their contributions in research, education, and the advancement of clinical practice – now nearly 60 in number and including five organizations. A selection team from the current NAFC Board of Directors selected one individual from the outstanding nominees to receive this award.

This inaugural award was established to recognize an exceptional healthcare professional as a leader in patient care. The Shining Star Award is presented to individuals who are considered a vital component in continence care while working with a team to provide greater medical attentive service to patients.

About The UAB Division of Women’s Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery
The University of Alabama at Birmingham Division of Women’s Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, which includes the UAB Urogynecology Care and Continence Clinic, provides professional and sensitive care for women with incontinence and pelvic-floor disorders. Patients in the division are provided with a variety of highly effective, non-surgical approaches to incontinence, including medications, behavioral therapies and support devices. For women needing surgery, the latest minimally invasive techniques usually allow women to go home the same day and recover quickly. Women will find revolutionary new options available, many of which were researched and developed at UAB.

About NAFC
The National Association For Continence is a 501(c)3 corporation whose mission is threefold: 1) to educate the public about the causes, diagnosis categories, treatment options, and management alternatives for incontinence, voiding dysfunction, nocturnal enuresis, and related pelvic floor disorders; 2) to network with other organizations and agencies to elevate the visibility and priority given to these areas; and 3) to advocate on behalf of consumers who suffer from such symptoms as a result of disease or other illness, obstetrical, surgical or other trauma, or deterioration due to the aging process itself. NAFC is broadly funded by consumers, healthcare professionals and industry. It is the world’s largest and most prolific consumer advocacy organization devoted exclusively to this field.

The National Association For Continence
PO Box 1019
Charleston, SC 29402

This release was published on openPR.