Ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the Lamar County Nurse of the Year were held Wednesday at Paris Junior College. The event is sponsored by Paris Junior College, Cypress Home Health and Chapman’s Florist and held each year during National Nurses Week. The theme this year is “Nurses Delivering Quality and Innovation In Patient Care.” Volunteer Pat Cochran coordinates the event and chairs the selection committee.
Marcia Putnam, PJC director of Health Occupations, introduced PJC President Dr. Pamela Anglin, who presented the plaque to Vimah Temporal, R.N., B.S.N., as the 2013 Lamar County Nurse of the Year. Temporal is a nurse in cardiology ICU and step-down unit at Paris Regional Medical Center.
Temporal has worked as an R.N. for 33 years, 30 years in Lamar County, and in her present position for the past 24 years. She has served as a preceptor for PJC graduating nursing students in helping them transition to the work field.
She is married to husband Dane, also a nurse. They have two sons, Keith and Ariel, and a daughter, Pearl, who is also a nurse in Tyler.
The award was established in 2002 to honor and recognize the rank-and-file nurses in the community who do their best every day to meet the health care needs of the community. Previous recipients of the award include Dara Munn, 2002; Theresa Emerson, 2003; Myra McNabb, 2004; Catalina Tabangcora, 2005; Brigida Rian, 2006; Vonda Wallace, 2007; Judy Reese, 2008; Erica Farmer Westbrooks, 2009; Debra Margraves, 2010; Arzella Pratt, 2011; and Kelley Jobe, 2012.