The honors were awarded by Nurseweek, a multimedia company with print publications that reach more than two million nurses annually. The Nursing Excellence Awards are given annually.

The nominees from UI Hospitals and Clinics include Linda Abbott, RN, in the Patient Advocacy category, Mark Miksch, RN, in the Teaching category, and Toni Mueller, RN, in the Mentoring category.

"It is a great honor to receive a nomination for this award," said Linda Q. Everett, RN, PhD, associate director and chief nursing officer at UI Hospitals and Clinics. "We are very proud of these highly accomplished nurses, who certainly reflect the outstanding quality of the nursing professionals on our entire staff."

Nurseweek featured profiles of the finalists in the August/September 2003 issue of the magazine. Candidates received nominations in eight categories across the 12-state region served by NurseWeek's Great Lakes and MidWest editions. A panel of nursing leaders selected six finalists in each category.