NURSING GRADUATE FEATURED IN USA TODAY ARTICLE ON HOSPITAL CUTBACKS

Catherine Steele, a 1999 graduate of Old Dominion University, was featured in a USA Today article Nov. 19 on how hospital's cost-cutting changes affect nursing care.

The article, "Cost-cutting changes how nurses operate," featured a side-bar profiling Steele, a nurse at Sentara Virginia Beach General, and her typical day on the job. "At the end of the day, I'm emotionally drained, but I'm also rewarded," the article quotes Steele as saying.

Steele, who received a bachelor's degree in nursing at last May's commencement, was a finalist for Old Dominion's Kaufman Award, which acknowledges graduating seniors who have exerted exceptional and constructive influence on the university, its students or the community by demonstrating the highest qualities of leadership and service.

In 1998, Steele was selected as a Helene Fuld Fellow, one of only 52 students nationally to receive the prestigious award and Old Dominion's first such fellow. The Fuld Fellowship recognizes outstanding nursing students, promote their leadership development and stimulate interest in oncology. As a fellow, Steele represented Virginia at the 1998 annual convention of the National Student Nurses' Association in Cincinnati and at the 17th International Cancer Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.