TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT RECEIVES NURSING AWARD

Although he always maintained a positive attitude, Tom Rogers, R.N., had a life of imposed limits before his Simultaneous Pancreas-Kidney (SPK) Transplant at The Renal and Pancreas Transplant Centers at Saint Barnabas Medical Center six years ago. Tom, of Bayonne, suffered from Type 1 diabetes from infancy and later developed hypertension in his teens. He could not attend college because of the extreme exhaustion resulting from weekly dialysis treatments. When physicians told him they finally had a kidney and pancreas available for him, Tom’s father drove him to the Saint Barnabas Renal Transplant Centers and the surgery was performed the next day.

“I remember waking up from the surgery and they told me that the kidney worked right away,” Tom recalls. “That doesn’t always happen. It was a really great feeling.”

After the transplant, Tom felt like a new person and was able to attend the nursing program at Essex County College. Strong for the first time, he worked hard in school and “took advantage of my new good health.” Although he has never been given the name of the donor or the donor’s family, Tom hopes to someday convey to them the importance of this gift of health and life.

“I wanted to wait until I accomplished something in my life so I could reach out to the family and say that because of their sacrifice, I was able to do this,” he relates.

Tom achieved a major accomplishment this May 2005 when he graduated from nursing school and, in addition to being chosen as president of his graduating class, he was also chosen as the first recipient of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System Nursing Student Pioneer Award. Tom was one of five recipients from area nursing programs to receive the award. The honor had no relation to his transplant. The Pioneer Award was given at his graduation ceremony.

The Nursing Student Pioneer Award recognizes those who have demonstrated the vision and skills in enhancing the future of nursing. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA and are nominated by their educational institutions.

In addition to receiving an engraved statue, recipients were also given a $250 gift check from the Saint Barnabas Health Care System.

Tom, who was “stunned and very pleased” by the award, says that he entered the field of nursing because he loves to work with patients. After taking the state nursing boards, he was hired as a full time nurse on the Executive Pavilion at Saint Barnabas Medical Center and began work on August 1, 2005. Tom says he is pleased to work for Saint Barnabas, where he has many positive memories of his own physicians, nurses and social workers.

The entire team of the Saint Barnabas Renal and Pancreas Transplant Centers was proud to hear about Tom’s recent honor.

“There is no greater satisfaction than to witness such success and return to normal life,” says Shamkant Mulgaonkar, M.D., Chief, Transplant Division, Saint Barnabas Health Care System. “