For immediate release – April 4, 2008
Contact: Dan Branyon, 864-725-4134
dbranyon@selfregional.org

 

Self Regional Nurse earns Palmetto Gold Award

         GREENWOOD—John Paguntalan, a nurse practitioner and critical care clinical nurse specialist at Self Regional Healthcare, is one of this year’s Palmetto Gold Award Recipients.

Paguntalan, who has been with Self Regional since 2004, is a strong advocate of improved patient outcomes thru staff and patient education, and implementation of quality and safety initiatives. He was instrumental in leading the hospital to establish a Rapid Response Team, a group of critical care clinicians available to rush to the bedside to stabilize a patient’s condition at the first sign of trouble, two years ago.

Palmetto Gold began in 2002 when a group of nurse leaders from major nursing organizations came together to plan a strategy for displaying contributions made by nurses to the health care system.

The idea produced a gala for the annual recognition of 100 nurses who exemplify excellence in their practice and commitment to the profession.

Proceeds from the gala are donated to scholarships that support nurses all over the state. The first gala was in June of 2002, and the following year $1,000 scholarships were made available to each of the 22 colleges and universities that offer a registered nurse program.

The net proceeds generated from the gala not only go toward providing scholarships for nursing students around the state, but also help expand the Palmetto Gold scholarship endowment.

Since the program was established, over $100,000 in nursing scholarships has been awarded and another $100,000 has been invested into the Palmetto Gold Scholarship Endowment.