Hundreds of nominations poured in from people wanting to honor nurses they felt have what it takes to be named a Cedar Valley Top 10 Nurse.

Two longtime nurse educators had the daunting task of sifting through those nominations to select nine winners. Shawn Buhrow, who oversees the nursing program at Hawkeye Community College, and Nancy Kramer, who retired from Allen College in September as the provost/chief academic officer, graciously volunteered to select this year’s top Cedar Valley nurses. The Courier is grateful for their expertise and professionalism in choosing the 2019 winners.

A 10th nurse was named the People’s Choice winner. That nurse is the top vote-getter from more than 6,000 online votes.

The 2019 Cedar Valley Top 10 Nurses are:

Eric Alberts — Western Home Communities, Cedar Falls

Tatjana Covic — UnityPoint At Home, Waterloo

Sara Davis, People’s Choice Winner — Cedar Valley Hospice, Waterloo

Mary Ferrell — MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center

Sharon Frohling — NorthCrest Specialty Care, Waterloo

Bobbette Fryslie — Care Initiatives Hospice, Cedar Falls

Joy Hershey — UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital

Treese Pilkington — Peoples Clinic, Waterloo

ShanQuiesha Robinson — UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital

Heather Stech — Northeast Iowa Family Practice, Waterloo

These nurses will be honored at an awards luncheon at 11:30 a.m. May 9 at the Diamond Event Center, 5307 Caraway Drive, Cedar Falls.

Tickets to the event are $15 and are available at wcfcourier.com/nurses or by calling Lisa Boleyn at 291-1478.

Additionally, the Courier will feature the winners in a special publication, “Nurses: the Heart of Health Care,” on May 5.