SARANAC LAKE — A major gift from Adirondack Health Foundation board member Joan Grabe has created a new annual award to recognize nurse mentors within the Adirondack Health organization.

The Adirondack Health Nursing Legacy Award will honor registered nurses with 15 or more years of experience and demonstrated histories of mentoring the next generation of nurses. Nominations will come from staff nurses and a review panel will select a winner each year. The $1,000 award will be presented in December, in conjunction with the Meghan E. Handler Excellence in Nursing Award, which honors exceptional nurses with less than five years of experience.

“Watching Adirondack Health deftly navigate this pandemic, I felt it was important to honor the nurses for their compassionate caregiving and to recognize the skillful leadership of Sylvia Getman,” Grabe said in a press release. “As a nursing school alumna, I understand how beneficial strong mentors can be to new nurses just starting out.”

Nominees will be evaluated based on their commitments and track records of mentoring young nurses, highly developed nursing intuition, technical skills, strong rapport with colleagues, patients, and families, and willingness to teach and share their skills with less experienced nursing colleagues.

“We very much appreciate Joan’s generosity and desire to formally recognize our outstanding nurse mentors,” said Dave Mader, chief nursing officer at Adirondack Health. “The informal transfer of knowledge builds self-confidence in new nurses and is essential to the quality of care and patient experience here at Adirondack Health.”

In addition to her service on the Adirondack Health Foundation’s board of trustees, Grabe chairs the Birth to Three Advocates and the Hunter Bellevue School of Nursing advisory board and serves on the Hunter College Foundation board of trustees.