The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and AJCJobs honored Georgia’s nurses during National Nurses’ Week, May 6 — 12, 2009 with their fourth annual Nursing Excellence Awards program.

"We are very pleased to announce that Susanne Whittle, RN, and Kim Love, RN, were among the 230 nurses nominated from across the state," said Barbara Valentine, assistant administrator of Patient Care Services at Newton Medical Center.

AJC readers submitted essays describing how a nurse has made a difference in his or her life or in the life of a loved one during the previous year.

Love is a staff nurse on the Medical Floor at NMC and was nominated by Tina Harris, a respiratory therapy student at Gwinnett Tech. "My first round of clinical training was at Newton Medical Center," said Harris. "Kim was always willing to help me and was always compassionate with her patients. Caring for the sick is a difficult and demanding job, but Mrs. Love does it with ease."

Whittle is the Charge Nurse in The BirthCare Center at NMC. "Susanne is respected by many and even requested for some deliveries," explained friend Beverly Knight.

"My grandchild was born seven weeks early and it was very comforting to have a friend with experience — she stayed with us the entire time," said Knight who nominated Whittle for the award.