Lynda Martinez is a true testament of compassion and embodies Florence Nightingale’s mission, emphasizing devotion, dignity, and respect for human service as a nurse and nursing educator. I have known Lynda for over 5 years as a home care nurse who impressed me with her nursing skills and compassionate care to my patients. After joining the Northwell HTC, I noted firsthand that Lynda is kind and patient, always with a smile on her face, and goes beyond the call of duty to empower patients with knowledge about their bleeding disorder and to teach life skills with compassion. After completing her Master’s in nursing education, she continues to train the next generation of nurses at St Joseph’s College, NY, by role-modeling empathy, compassion, and dedication. She devotes a significant amount of time to our young girls in our Girls and Women’s Bleeding Disorder clinic to ensure they accurately report abnormal menstrual bleeding to provide appropriate treatment in a shared treatment decision model. At the national level, she co-chairs the Nursing Committee for the Foundation for Women and Girls+ with Blood Disorders and has spearheaded a program to understand cultural differences in approaches to managing heavy menstrual bleeding.

As an HTC team member, she is a dedicated team player and was instrumental in launching an annual program that collects staff donations for a needy family at the holidays. One parent’s comments: “Lynda was very patient when she taught me to give myself my son’s medicine through the IV. She is not only a nurse but someone I can trust to help find solutions to my family’s problems. My family is blessed to have her in our lives”. Another recent patient comment: “Yesterday, as usual, Linda went several thousand extra miles for me because of my relative immobility. I so so appreciate her and all the support I get!” In short, she is an “ Unsung hero” who needs to be recognized for everything she does for Northwell.

In summary, I truly believe that for Lynda, her job is a calling, and I cannot think of anyone deserving of this award rewarding extraordinary compassion in Medicine.