Since 1989, the Great 100 Nurses of North Carolina celebrates registered nurses who demonstrate exceptional practice, leadership and professionalism in a variety of settings.
This year, the program set a record with nearly 500 nominations. Among this year’s honorees were 18 ECU Health nurses, underscoring the system’s commitment to high-quality care and team member recognition.
In the final installment of our series, we’re highlighting Celina Hawkins, BSN, RN, Stacey Sloan, BSN, RN, CGRN, Christine Smith, MSN, RN, OCN, Brooke Thompson, RN and Jose Vazquez Velazquez, BSN, RN.
Celina Hawkins
“My grandmother told me I’d be a nurse one day. I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” Hawkins said. “I didn’t get to go to nursing school until I was 41, but I love it and have been at ECU Health Edgecombe Hospital for 14 years now.”
Hawkins said it was a family effort to go back to school after raising her six children, and after graduating from Edgecombe Community College with her ADN, she made her dream come true. She worked at the bedside before graduating with her BSN from North Carolina Wesleyan University and transitioning to an education coordinator role, where she ensures those coming on board have what they need to succeed.
“I’m just doing what I love. That’s reward enough. To be recognized as one of the Great 100 Nurses is truly humbling and holds a special meaning, because nursing has always been more than a career,” she said. “It’s a calling rooted in service, compassion and a genuine desire to help others.”
This recognition affirms that the work she loves makes a difference and that she’s exactly where she’s meant to be. For Hawkins, Tarboro is home.
“The community, the people and my team keep me here. Tarboro is small and everyone knows everyone,” Hawkins said. “On the floor, I know some of the patients and it’s a warm feeling to see them doing well in the community later. We are truly the best.”
Stacey Sloan
A third-generation nurse, Sloan joined ECU Health after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and she honed her skills on 3 East. She moved to a cardiac unit before finding herself in endoscopy.
“You want to make a difference for someone,” she said. “When we care for our patients, it’s not a happy time in their lives. We deliver a lot of bad news and that’s tough. You have to show compassion, be present and listen to them.”
Although she’s not at the bedside as often, Sloan said her leadership role gives her the opportunity to give back.
“I had really good mentors who invested in me when I got started. Now I can make a difference with my team by improving a workflow and making thing safer or easier,” she said. “Being a nurse means showing up every day and inspiring others.”
For Sloan, that includes developing a robust orientation program for new team members and improving scheduling so more patients are seen. It’s no wonder she was named a Great 100 Nurse.
“It’s incredible. I knew I was nominated but I didn’t think I’d win because so many were nominated this year. And interestingly enough, my mother won this award 30 years ago. She was my role model, so it was cool I could share that with her.”
Christine Smith
Her mother passed away when Smith was 11, and the care her mother received touched her heart and sparked her interested in nursing. Then her mother-in-law, Dorothy, fanned that flame by encouraging her to pursue nursing also.
“Right out of high school, I became a nurse assistant while I went to nursing school,” Smith said. “I graduated in 1992. I came to Pitt County Memorial Hospital when I got my degree.”
She came for the large hospital setting, the fact that it is a teaching hospital and she wanted to be a flight nurse. Since then, Smith has worked in a variety of settings, but when she stumbled across medical oncology, she fell in love.
“I really love working with that patient population,” she said. “I have done a lot of work with Santa’s Hope so patients in the Cancer Center can select gifts for their families. I am also the membership coordinator for the Eastern North Carolina Nursing Honor Guard. I love this hospital; I feel like my team and leadership really care about nurses and what we think. The system promotes acknowledging the things people do, and I appreciate that.”
She also appreciated being a Great 100 Nurse – something she wasn’t expecting.
“I’d been nominated before but never won,” she said. “This award began about the time I got out of high school and along the way I’ve known many nurses who won. This is the crème de la crème. I’ve been in awe of them, so to become a part of that makes me feel humbled and happy.”
Brooke Thompson
“My mother and sister were both diagnosed with cancer and passed away within nine months of each other; that experience of being the family at the bedside informed the type of nurse I am today.”
Thompson went to college and majored in sociology, but when she realized her work-life balance wasn’t ideal after graduation, she went back to school for nursing at Carteret Community College.
“I was in the first class of nursing students there,” she said. “During that time, my mother and sister were both diagnosed with cancer, but it just confirmed that I was doing what I should be doing.”
After graduation, the Morehead City native first worked at what was then Carteret General Hospital before taking a travel nurse role – where she found herself spending a lot of time at ECU Health Medical Center.
Thompson said she was amazed and honored to be a Great 100 Nurse.
“I’d heard of the award but didn’t think I’d ever get it. I was a traveling nurse for so long and I have my associate’s degree so I thought I never would,” she said. “But this validates that I’m a good nurse and the judges saw me – not just the letters behind my name.”
She tries to be available for her colleagues and open to questions, and she shares the same advice with all new graduate nurses.
“Put yourself in that bed or in the bedside chair. My experience with my mother and sister shaped what kind of nurse I wanted to be because I saw the good and the bad from the family perspective,” Thompson said. “As nurses, we have to bring that to our role at the bedside.”
Jose Vazquez Velazquez
When Velazquez was six, his father became gravely ill.
“He was diabetic and working in North Carolina,” he said. “My mother and siblings and I were in Mexico, so we came to North Carolina to see him.”
During the journey, his mother experienced severe dehydration in the desert, but a kind passer-by saw her in distress and helped her.
“A health care worker on their way to work – we aren’t sure what their job was or who they were, only that they were in scrubs – saw her unresponsive and took her to the hospital. That made a strong impact on me, and made me want to help like they did,” Velazquez said.
Jose gained permanent United States residency when he was 12, and in 2018, he graduated from East Carolina University with his BSN. There was no doubt where he wanted to work.
“I wanted to be at ECU Health because this was a part of my community,” he said. “I like the resources we have and our team. They are supportive and help me whenever I need it.”
Velazquez said it was an honor to be recognized as a Great 100 Nurse. In addition to donating to Wigs for Kids, listening to patients’ family members and paying close attention to patient changes in status, he aims to be a calm and consistent presence for his team.
“Excellence is a part of ECU Health’s culture, and this award shows the trust my team has in me,” he said. “I try to be dependable, and this motivates me to be a better nurse and grow.”