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Arceneaux Award Honors Dynamic Nurse in Neurosurgery
Gisela Sanchez-Williams, RN, MSN, ANP-BC, rushed to a mid-May meeting with Raymond Sawaya, M.D., chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at M. D. Anderson, to discuss a support group she created two years ago to address the special needs of spine tumor patients. But a knock at the conference room door indicated a change in the agenda. Amid a bevy of smiling colleagues bearing roses and balloons, Sanchez-Williams absorbed the news: She’s the 2009 recipient of the Ethel Fleming Arceneaux Outstanding Nurse-Oncologist Award, the institution’s most prestigious honor in nursing.
Nominated by her peers, supervisors and patients in recognition of exemplary clinical and research skills, Sanchez-Williams is an advanced practice nurse in the Department of Neurosurgery’s spine program. Sanchez-Williams formally received the $15,000 award, established in 1982 by the Brown Foundation Inc., at a June 18 ceremony at M. D. Anderson.
“Now everybody knows what I’ve known for five years — I’m one of the luckiest surgeons at M. D. Anderson because I get to work with Gisela,” says Larry Rhines, M.D., spine program director. “Not only is she intelligent, energetic, hard-working and well-organized, but she also has excellent clinical skills and is a tremendous advocate for patients. She’s able to focus on their neurosurgical issues and at the same time recognize all of their medical, psychosocial and personal issues and incorporate them into a comprehensive plan of treatment.”
Sanchez-Williams studied liberal arts at Keuka College in Keuka Park, N.Y., and received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Colegio Universitario Metropolitano in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. She also received a master’s degree and advance nurse practioner certification from the University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston. Sanchez-Williams worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for seven years before joining M. D. Anderson in 1991 as a senior research nurse in the Department of Leukemia. She worked in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology from 2000 to 2004.
“I’m beyond honored,” says Sanchez-Williams of being selected by a committee of M. D. Anderson’s clinical faculty, patient care administration and nursing staff. “I feel privileged to work with this group. Dr. Rhines and I have the same vision. This award speaks also to the nurse practitioners with whom I work. We’re a cohesive, supportive and mentoring group.”
M. D. Anderson has provided “priceless lessons that no book can offer,” she says. “Patients have taught me to relish the simple moments, to remain humble, to become aware of the power of touch and prayer and to listen and never stop learning,” says Sanchez-Williams. “For this I am truly grateful.”