Angela Bytheway, a nurse-care coordinator at Shriners Hospital for Children, and Michael Desjardins, charge nurse at the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute, are two of 10 national winners of the 2003 Cherokee Uniformed Inspired Comfort Award.
The two were lauded for affecting the lives of others through "exceptional service, sacrifice and innovation."
Bytheway, a registered nurse for 32 years, works with a team of professionals to manage an average case load of between 800 and 1,100 patients. She helps make sure that patients can receive services they need in their communities.
Desjardins, a nurse for three years, has served as president of the National Student Nurses Association, helping chart the future of the Nursing Organizations Alliance, a national coalition of more than 50 nursing groups, and is vice president of the Utah Nurses Association. He is described as an exceptional nurse who cares for his patients with "incredible empathy and unconditional positive regard and caring."