The Long Island Business News (LIBN) recently awarded its “Health Care Heroes” Nurse Hero Award to Irene Ficaro, an endoscopy nurse at South Nassau Communities Hospital.

1. News From:
For Immediate Release March 2, 2016
Contact: Damian Becker, Manager of Media Relations
(516) 377-5370
LIBN Names Endoscopy Nurse A Health Care Hero
Oceanside, NY— The Long Island Business News (LIBN) recently awarded its “Health
Care Heroes” Nurse Hero Award to Irene Ficaro, an endoscopy nurse at South Nassau
Communities Hospital. LIBN’s “Health Care Heroes” awards honor individuals and
organizations in the health care industry in Nassau and Suffolk counties for outstanding
leadership and commitment.
“Irene’s roots are firmly planted in service to others,” said Sue Penque, PhD, RN, NP,
South Nassau’s chief nursing officer and senior vice president of patient care services. “Her
deep passion for caring for the health needs of the patients and communities we serve and global
mission to serve as a volunteer for those in need are what drive her to work in wide and varied
roles.”
In recent months, Ms. Ficaro has traveled to Bucharest, Romania, with several church
volunteers from the Bethlehem Assembly of God in Valley Stream to provide temporary
housing, training, counseling and support for impoverished young mothers. During the seven-
day mission trip, she provided babysitting services for mothers who were being taught basic
haircutting and jewelry making skills and also conducted blood pressure screenings outside of
the city.
In 2011, Ms. Ficaro was informed by a colleague that volunteers were needed in
Catanduanes. It wasn’t long before she purchased a plane ticket and joined a dozen or so nurses,
doctors and dentists from throughout the U.S. to provide medical outreach to the poor. From
dawn to dusk during the seven-day mission at Bicol Hospital, she dispensed medications to
pediatric patients and instructed parents in the administration of medication to their children.

2. Closer to home, each year for the past four years Ms. Ficaro has volunteered with the
international humanitarian-relief organization Convoy of Hope. Armed with anatomical
diagrams of the gastrointestinal tract and pamphlets, she educates Nassau’s underserved families
about the importance of early detection of colorectal cancer and refers them to low-cost
screening centers in the county. In June, she organized more than a half-dozen nurses on South
Nassau’s Endoscopy Unit to join her at the Convoy of Hope.
The sense of fulfillment and compassion that Ms. Ficaro receives from nursing is what
drives her to be a paragon of high-quality patient care. During her 12-year tenure at South
Nassau, Ms. Ficaro, who is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International, the largest nursing
honor society, has inspired seven nurses on the Endoscopy Unit to achieve certification in
gastroenterology nursing. She is one of the hospital’s original members of the Nurse Practice
Council, a nursing group that reviews, updates and writes nursing policies for the hospital, and
has recently completed a nursing research fellowship program. Currently, she is a principal
investigator in a study investigating the impact of interpersonal dynamics on women who have
undergone weight-loss surgery. Additionally, she is recognized for her commitment to
mentoring, having provided education services for Endoscopy nurses in preparation for the Joint
Commission survey for the hospital’s surgical weight-loss program.
Designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC),
South Nassau® Communities Hospital is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 455 beds,
more than 900 physicians and 3,000 employees. Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an
acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac,
oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services. In
addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, South Nassau provides emergency and
elective angioplasty, and is the only hospital on Long Island with the Novalis Tx™ and Gamma
Knife® radiosurgery technologies. South Nassau is a designated Stroke Center by the New York
State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American
College of Surgeons and is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
Association and Quality Improvement Program. In addition, the hospital has been awarded the
Joint Commission’s gold seal of approval as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures,
including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, perinatal care and surgical care; and disease-
specific care for hip and joint replacement, wound care and end-stage renal disease. For more
information, visit www.southnassau.org.
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