Maureen Dale, MD, receives Friend of Nursing Award and Internal Medicine Housestaff Faculty Award.
“You can go to her and she listens, and you know she wants to make a difference,” said Patient Services Manager Kittra Felton describing Maureen Dale, MD, associate professor in the division of geriatric medicine.
Last month, Dale was awarded the Friend of Nursing Award during Nursing Staff Recognition Week at the UNC Health Care Hillsborough Campus. The annual award recognizes a provider who advocates for nurses and the nursing profession, fostering an environment that reflects Carolina Care excellence.
“As the geriatric service evolved and moved to Hillsborough over the past year, Maureen has taken the role of service leader in the past 12 months and made a conscious effort to ensure that the ideas of not only the nursing leadership team were considered, but also the staff,” said Felton at the award ceremony. “Maureen embodies all of the aspects of Carolina Care and she consistently supports nursing staff.”
According to Dale, medicine was always a part of her life growing up. Her father was a primary care doctor in a small town and taught her how to “read” chest x-rays when she was four years old.
“I have always loved primary care and the idea of developing relationships with patients over time. But the time I spent on our geriatric inpatient service as an intern, working with wonderful clinicians and educators like Dr. Greganti, Dr. Bynum, and Dr. Busby-Whitehead really made it clear to me that I could find the kind of career I hoped for in geriatrics.”
Dale says she likes being able to do a little bit of everything: seeing patients in the hospital, seeing patients in clinic, going to the nursing home, and spending time teaching–something medicine residents especially appreciate.
Dale has also been honored with the Internal Medicine Housestaff Faculty Award, given in recognition and appreciation of an outstanding educational contribution to the residents and interns in the department of medicine.
“She is incredibly supportive and noticed for her thoughtful approach to patient care. One resident said, ‘she leads her services with poise, and watching her patient interactions has inspired me to be a more compassionate and thorough physician.’ Others have said she ‘combines knowledge and goodness in her person.’ I personally was lucky enough to have worked with her during my intern year when she was a fellow, and even then, I was struck by how composed she was regardless of the situation. She has had a remarkable impact on resident education. As one resident put it, ‘She is simply the best.’ ”
Dale’s areas of specialty include outpatient primary geriatric care, geriatric syndromes including frailty and cognitive impairment, care of hospitalized older adults and graduate medical education in geriatrics. Read more about Dale .