[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 83 (Thursday, June 20, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S5847]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING ANNA MICHELLE MILES

 Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a truly 
exceptional member of the Kentucky nursing community. Mrs. Anna 
Michelle Miles (Missy) of Covington, Kentucky was recently nominated 
for the Florence Nightingale Award by two of her superiors for her 
selfless devotion to her co-workers, community, and patients.
  The Florence Nightingale Award, presented by the University of 
Cincinnati Medical Center, honors excellence in the delivery of direct 
patient care. During her lifetime, Florence Nightingale reformed and 
basically created the modern profession of nursing, establishing an 
educational system where women could properly learn about medicine and 
patient care. During the Crimean War, she bravely and selflessly 
volunteered her services for the front line. Her request was granted 
and along with 38 nurses, she was able to greatly reduce the mortality 
rate among the sick and wounded. Her combination of medicinal knowledge 
and compassion is what this award is founded upon.
  Nurse Miles and the seven other nominees for this year's award 
represent the best of what nursing has to offer. They place patient 
care as their top priority and always know how to cheer a patient up by 
making them smile or just simply listening to them. They may not always 
have a physical cure for a patient's particular condition, but they 
will continually work to ensure that each and every patient is cared 
for in a loving and compassionate manner.
  In terms of what Nurse Miles has done for her patients and fellow co-
workers, I do not believe any award or statement could properly honor 
her. While a nurse at St. Elizabeth Medical North in Covington, KY, 
Nurse Miles has been an invaluable and irreplaceable resource. She 
helped start the Sunshine Fund in the ER in an effort to bring about a 
positive and warm atmosphere for doctors, nurses, families, and 
patients. She regularly volunteers to cover other floors when they are 
low on staffing and picks up extra shifts whenever she has the 
opportunity. As a social worker once wrote about Nurse Miles, ``My 
personal feeling is that Missy treats all her patients with dignity and 
respect. She is a true nurse in all the roles she fulfills.'' She has 
also been very active in aiding those less fortunate individuals 
residing in the Covington community; collecting food for the shelters 
and food kitchens as well buying hats and gloves with her own money to 
distribute to children for those long, cold nights. Her patients adore 
and co-workers cannot imagine life without her.
  I kindly ask that my fellow colleagues join me in thanking Anna 
Michelle Miles for her endless love and enduring commitment to her 
patients. She is a tribute to the memory of Florence 
Nightingale.

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