URBANA – Avie Pagel RN, a float nurse at Carle Clinic, is the recipient of the May 2008 Clinical Nurse Excellence Award.

Avie has been a nurse for 14 years and at Carle Clinic for 13. She is the most seasoned nurse on the Clinic’s float staff, trained in the greatest number of departments. Float nurses cover departments when staff is short due to illness, vacations, leave of absence or open positions. These registered nurses must be dependable, easily adaptable and able to work in a variety of areas with patients of all ages and many different needs. Upon completion of current training, Avie will be skilled in 18 areas at Carle Clinic.

As a float nurse, Avie contributes by helping patients during critical times of need. Always friendly and ready to assist, she integrates herself into each office’s routine. She is highly skilled in electronic medical records, and with competency in many departments, she is able to assist her colleagues by calling patients from nurse work lists, at times without leaving her office.

As a child, Avie dreamed of the career she has today. When other kids played school or house, she pretended to be a nurse. Beginning her education later in life, she became an inspiration to her children who were old enough to recognize that their mom was working hard to achieve her goal. They learned that when you want something and are willing to work for it, you can achieve it.

Avie lives with her husband Frank. She has two grown children, Frank Jr. and Kevin; three grandsons, Bradon, Keagen and Jake; and one granddaughter, Payton. She enjoys spending time with her family and plans to retire while she and her husband are young enough to travel.