In its ninth year, the NightinGala and Nurse Hero Awards will honor nurses from leading health care institutions in Memphis and the University of Tennessee Southern during the sold-out gala on May 2. The celebration of nursing will also welcome Nurse Blake, a nurse and touring comedian who has performed for more than 250,000 nurses worldwide.
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Nursing presents the NightinGala annually to launch the celebration of National Nurses Week, which is recognized each year May 6-12. WMC-TV news anchor Joe Birch will emcee the awards program, which will be held at the FedEx Event Center at Shelby Farms Park. The theme of Nurses Week is “The Power of Nurses,” according to the American Nurses Association.
“We are thrilled to present the NightinGala each year because it honors the important work of nurses that can often go unnoticed,” said College of Nursing Dean Wendy Likes, PhD, DNSc, APRN-BC, FAAN, FAANP. “It’s a wonderful night of inspiration to celebrate nurses who exemplify the best of the profession.”
For the 23rd consecutive year in 2024, nursing was rated as the most trusted profession in the United States, according to a Gallup poll. Nursing ranks above all other professions for having high standards of honesty and ethics.
Four awards will be presented at the gala. This includes Nurse Hero Awards in three categories: Bedside Nurse Hero, Advanced Practice Nurse Hero, and Executive Leader Nurse Hero. The Dr. John W. Runyan Jr. Community Nursing Award is also presented to honor a nurse practicing in Tennessee, Arkansas, or Mississippi, who has made significant contributions to the development and promotion of community health nursing.
The Runyan Award will be presented to Professor Michelle Decker, DNP, RN, chair of the Jeannette M. Travis School of Nursing and Health Sciences at UT Southern, the newest campus in the University of Tennessee System. Dr. Decker led the School of Nursing during the transition period when the UT System acquired Martin Methodist College to create UT Southern. She is also a co-investigator on two grants in collaboration with the UT Health Science Center College of Nursing and UT Martin that are vital to sustaining and growing the pipeline of nurses to rural areas.
Two nurses will be recognized in the Bedside Nurse Hero category – one representing St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the other from Baptist Memorial Health Care. Kierra McCallum, BSN, RN, ACRN, will be recognized for her work in the Hughes Infectious Disease Clinic at St. Jude, which serves children who have HIV. Richard Schenk, BSN, RN, will receive the Bedside Nurse Hero Award for his caring and collaborative work in the Baptist Transplant Intensive Care Unit.
The Advanced Practice Nurse Hero Award is a posthumous recognition of the lifetime commitment of Tracy Tidwell Dixon, MSN, FNP-BC, PPCNP-BC, to pediatric nursing at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and St. Jude. She served as an advanced practice nurse at Le Bonheur from 2001 to 2017, working in the emergency department, on the pediatric stroke team, and as director of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Program. From 2017 until her passing in 2025, she continued her work as an advanced practice nurse in the hematology department at St. Jude, specializing in telehealth. Known as a tireless patient advocate, Dixon consistently went above and beyond to ensure all her patients’ needs were met.
The Executive Leader Nurse Hero Award recognizes Anna Leigh McGrath, MSN, RN, director of nursing services at the West Cancer Center and Research Institute. McGrath began work at West as a physician nurse who served as a primary patient contact. As a nurse leader, she helped transform the role of the clinic nurse to that of a nurse navigator who empowers patients.
The NightinGala is made possible through the generosity of the following sponsors: Baptist Memorial Health Care, Regional One Health, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, the Tennessee Hospital Association, West Cancer Center and Research Institute, Saint Francis Healthcare, and the UT Health Science Center Nursing Mobile Health Unit.
Funds raised through the gala benefit the College of Nursing’s Center for Community and Global Partnerships, which provides nursing innovation grants for nurses in the Mid-South who want to improve patient care in their area of practice.