Cheryl Paddock, BSN, RN, is the VNA’s 2022 recipient of the highest international award in nursing, the Nightingale Award.
The Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing celebrates the nursing profession and is named after Florence Nightingale, a British nurse and social reformer known as the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale formalized education for nurses and established the first scientifically-based nursing school in 1860. Her experiences as a nurse during the Crimean War were foundational in creating sanitation and infection prevention guidelines.
One of the most challenging jobs in nursing is providing the knowledge behind the care, scrutinizing every aspect of the database to maintain insurance processing and healthcare quality as the best in the business.
Paddock, this year’s Nightingale recipient, is the assistant clinical manager oasis quality assurance coordinator at the Visiting Nurses Association and is the force behind the data. Her diligence is essential, requiring nursing acumen, attention to detail, and understanding of the patients’ needs.
Paddock is the force behind quality reporting which is vital for success as healthcare providers. Paddock shared Medicare regulations and interpretive guidelines during the pandemic, ensuring each nurse was informed of the changing medical scene and kept the VNA in compliance. She was also a trailblazer during the pandemic’s unknown times, assisting in emergency preparedness clinics with the health district through vaccination clinics.
Paddock is a graduate of Fairfield School of Nursing with a BSN. Previously at the VNA, she was a community health nurse providing blood pressure and flu clinics in area towns, including Granby, where the participants in these clinics relied upon her for many of their medical needs and questions.
She is a Simsbury resident who is active in the community, having served on the Tariffville PTO with two years as president and the Board of Simsbury Summer Theater for Youth for five years. During the pandemic, Paddock made over 600 masks as a skilled seamstress, donating them to organizations and individuals. She and her husband have two daughters.