On this page, you will find profiles of the 2010 winners of the Celebrating Nurses ajcjobs Nursing Excellence Awards. Related: Celebrating Nurses main page

Vivian Abel, 53, is an intensive care nurse and unit coordinator at Atlanta Medical Center. Her husband thinks she also could be a detective. Last September Abel treated a young woman who had been hit by a car while jogging and was knocked unconscious.

Growing up in Ohio, Barbara Burk was always attracted to nursing. She signed up for volunteer hospital work and learned about the field from her mother, a labor and delivery specialist. It was a natural step for her to enroll in nursing school and take a job working with cardiac patients.

Compassionate nurses know that sometimes the best medicine doesn’t come in a bottle. It’s not something prescribed on a chart or written in a protocol. It might be something as simple as a comforting touch — or it could be a Rottweiler named Bubba. Last year, the charge nurse in the Medical B and pulmonary unit at Athens Regional Medical Center brought an unusual request to the unit’s nursing director, Carolyn Chucci.

As a chemotherapy nurse, Alice Debate sees many patients whose emotions are raw. The chairs that line her treatment suite at Southeastern Gynecologic Oncology at St. Joseph’s in Atlanta are filled with women in various stages of battles against ovarian cancer.

After six years on a U.S. Navy submarine, Ray Hoover held a slew of divergent civilian jobs, including dinner theater actor, driving instructor and retail manager. After awhile, Hoover missed the feeling of purpose, pride and accomplishment he had when he served his country.

For Desiree McClendon, giving birth seven years ago was a defining moment in more than the usual way. Her daughter was born prematurely and spent a month in the hospital, yet “it was the best delivery experience ever,” said McClendon, 30. “Tara Reid, a clinical coordinating nurse at Southern Regional [Medical Center] was amazing.

Sheree Middleton knows there are three words guaranteed to make most people cower: intensive care unit. She’s lost track of the times people have recoiled at the mention of the ICU, so she’s made it part of her job to change that impression. “Intensive care is not necessarily a place where you need to be scared,” said Middleton, 42.

Margaret Shaw recalls being fascinated by the stories her mother told about her job as a nurse. “She’d tell about patients she’d seen, and the things that touched her that were inspiring,” Shaw said. “I remember telling her in 11th grade that I wanted to be a nurse.

There’s no Dr. McDreamy or George Clooney roaming the halls. But otherwise, says Sonya Smith, life in the emergency room is fairly close to what television dramas portray. “Well, it’s more like ‘ER’ than ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ” said Smith with a laugh. “We work well in chaos.

As nursing supervisor for Paulding County schools, Nancy Wood never knows what she’ll encounter on any given day. But she does know what attitude to bring. “I ask myself, ‘If this child were mine, how would I want him to be taken care of?’ I’m the advocate for all my kids,” she said.

Great nurses leave a void in the lives of their families, friends and patients when they pass away, but they also leave legacies. Karala Boynton and B.J. (Brenda Jo) Kramer were among the 332 nurses nominated for this year’s AJC Jobs Nursing Excellence Awards.