July 11, 2024
Provided images/Independence Blue Cross
Independence Blue Cross announced the winners of its Celebrate Caring campaign, which honors nurses in the region. This year's winners are, from left to right, Jasmine Hudson, Francis Doran and Allison Denman.
Independence Blue Cross announced the three winners of this year's Celebrate Caring campaign, which honors extraordinary nurses in the region. Patients, family members and colleagues nominated nurses who exemplify excellence and dedication in their field.
The honorees were Allison Denman, a clinical director and forensic nurse manager at Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions’ Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response Center; Jasmine Hudson, an inpatient diabetes nurse practitioner with the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Penn Medicine; and Francis Doran, a registered nurse in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Penn Medicine.
Denman works at a center that's the city’s round-the-clock resource for forensic evidence collection and medical care of adult and older adolescent victims of acute sexual assault. She also serves as a certified expert witness for local district attorneys and the state attorney general, specializing in testimony regarding legal standards of sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) care, as well as traumatology and pathology pertinent to a SANE patient.
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Hudson addresses social determinants of health affecting diabetes patients, establishing a work group to improve care transitions and follow-up appointments as an inpatient diabetes nurse practitioner with Penn Medicine. She co-directs the community pillar of her division’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiative. Under her leadership, a multidisciplinary team has been building community partnerships and introducing a series of weekend diabetes education classes. Hudson also represents the Penn Medicine diabetes program at West Philadelphia farmers markets, promoting diabetes education and services to enhance patient care and community health outcomes.
Doran, in addition to his dedication as a cardiac intensive care unit nurse, volunteers with an outreach group called the Kensington Project. He provides medical care and helps distribute clothing, food and other essentials to people experiencing homelessness who may also have substance use disorder.
This year, the winners are being recognized with the Sunshine Award that pays tribute to Paula Sunshine, the former senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Independence Blue Cross who played a significant role in the campaign’s inception. Each winner will receive a $500 gift card and a $2,500 donation to a nonprofit organization of their choice.
