Tammy Allred, nurse navigator for UNC’s lung cancer patients, received a 2012 Oncology Nursing Excellence Award on Nov. 12 at UNC’s Lineberger Cancer Research Center. The award is given “in recognition of unwavering compassion and caring for the patients of UNC Cancer Care.”
Allred also was recognized by the Lungevity Foundation as best healthcare provider for the month of November. The Lungevity Foundation funds scientific research to find lung cancer early and treat it more effectively; the foundation also provides support for those affected by the disease.
Allred is known to her colleagues as a hard-working and very caring nurse who always goes the extra mile for her patients and their families. She regularly makes presentations about lung cancer care and treatment to national and regional oncology organizations and she is very active with the North Carolina Lung Cancer Partnership.
For the UNC Oncology Nursing Excellence Award, one nominator wrote: “Tammy gives her all in whatever she does. She is the type of nurse and person you want to care for you when you are sick.”
Another nominator wrote: “She dedicates many volunteer hours to the North Carolina Lung Cancer Partnership that works to educate and de-stigmatize lung cancer and also support research in lung cancer.“
Winners of the Nursing Excellence Awards receive a $1500 stipend for professional education activities. The Oncology Nursing Excellence Award is presented in memory of Charmayne S. Gray, an outstanding oncology nurse who died in an auto accident in 2002.
Thoracic surgeons from the UNC Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery – Dr. Benjamin Haithcock, Dr. Nirmal Veeramachaneni, and Dr. Richard Feins – are part of the UNC team that cares for patients who have lung cancer or other chest cancers.