Every May, during National Nurses Week, something special happens at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem. Hundreds of healthcare professionals, administrators, and family members gather for the LVHN Friends of Nursing Awards, a ceremony that honors the nurses whose dedication, skill, and compassion define the standard of care across the Lehigh Valley Health Network.
Recognizing Excellence
The Friends of Nursing Awards represent the highest honors LVHN bestows on its nursing staff. In 2025, 45 nurses were recognized across categories that span virtually every area of hospital care. Katherine Fryer received the Robert Lurig Memorial Award for Excellence in Burn Care for her work in the Regional Burn Center at LVH Cedar Crest. Tara Hadinger earned the Florence Nightingale Exemplary Professional Practice Award for her care of pediatric patients at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children's Hospital. Nicole Labriola was honored for excellence in orthopedic surgical nursing.
In 2024, nearly 700 attendees celebrated 43 award recipients. Among them was Matt Turner from the Children's ER, described by colleagues as one of the most gentle, sensitive, and thorough nurses around. Jackie Ludwig, a hospice nurse, was recognized with words that captured the essence of her calling: Jackie is the light on some of our patients' darkest days.
The Nurses Behind the Titles
What makes these awards powerful is not the ceremony itself but the stories behind each honoree. These are the nurses who sit with dying patients so they are not alone. The nurses who hold a new mother's hand through a complicated delivery. The nurses who notice the subtle change in a patient's condition at 3 AM that turns out to be the difference between recovery and crisis. The work is physically demanding, emotionally exhausting, and often thankless, and these nurses do it with a level of dedication that defies easy description.
Joshua Ashmar, a 2023 recipient of the Robert Lurig Memorial Award, exemplifies the dual commitment that many Lehigh Valley healthcare workers carry. In addition to his work in the Regional Burn Center, Ashmar serves as Captain of the Trexlertown Fire Department. His fire prevention work inspired his passion for burn care, creating a full circle connection between community service and clinical excellence.
Magnet Status and What It Means
LVHN earned its Magnet designation for the sixth consecutive time in October 2025, a distinction held by only 26 of 642 Magnet hospitals nationwide. Magnet recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center is the gold standard for nursing excellence, and LVHN has held it continuously since 2002. That sustained commitment to nursing quality is not just a point of institutional pride. It directly impacts patient outcomes and the experience of every person who walks through LVHN's doors.
For the Lehigh Valley, the Friends of Nursing Awards are a reminder that behind every hospital stay, every emergency room visit, every recovery, there is a nurse who made it possible. These are the hometown heroes who wear scrubs instead of uniforms, whose battlefields are hospital wards, and whose victories are measured in lives saved and suffering eased. The Valley owes them more than an annual ceremony, but the ceremony is a good start.
