Posted In Awards and Recognition on June 30, 2023
As you think about the lives that TidalHealth nurses touch and the difference that they make, their collective contributions to improving the health of our community can be overwhelming.
But as we acknowledge the retirement of our own Terry Emge, as today she scrubbed in for her last CABG (open-heart surgery) on her last day of employment at TidalHealth, thinking about her individual contribution is astonishing.
Terry has influenced nursing practice at TidalHealth for decades. She began her career at then Peninsula General Hospital (PGH) in 1964 as a candy striper with the Junior Board.
Terry graduated from the Peninsula General Hospital Nursing school in 1970 and was invited to join the OR heart team staff, where she remained through 1982. She was instrumental in establishing the open-heart surgery program at PGH, the establishment of surgical training lab, and the assembly of the OR Heart Nursing Team. She was the only non-physician founding member of the Peninsula Heart Team.
Her skill and foresight provided opportunities for surgeons to introduce new procedures year after year. Her unwavering innovativeness and pioneer spirit resulted in a cutting-edge service line that brought incomparable cardiac surgical services to Delmarva community members. Here is just a sample of the “firsts” in cardiac surgery that Terry assisted in bringing to our area:
- 1972- first open heart procedure on Delmarva (third in state of MD)
- 1974- first CABG with Drs. Todd and Hughes
- 1979- first mitral valve replacement with Dr. Klopp
- 1984- first left internal mammary bypass with Dr. Ogburn
- 1995- first mitral valve replacement with Dr. Julian
- 1999- first off-pump beating heart CABG with Dr. James Todd
- 2002- first heart laser procedure with Dr. Wehberg
- 2009- world's first TMR and stem cell injection
- 2012- first Davinci robot lobectomy
- 2016- first TAVR
Terry has scrubbed into more cases than any cardiac surgeon in the state of Maryland. She was also the recipient of the very first DAISY Award at PRMC in 2012. Terry was honored for her clinical contributions to the cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgery program. Terry was also recognized for her compassion and “soothing nature” when working with patients undergoing complex surgeries and her professionalism “in every interaction with every patient and staff member.” She also earned the recognition of being a Certified Perioperative Nurse and completed the CRNFA certification program.
Today Terry was presented with TidalHealth's 3rd Daisy Lifetime Achievement Award. It gives us a way to express our gratitude and recognize the legacies that have sustained and shaped the heritage of nursing.
Nurses selected to achieve this award have had a distinguished career as a nurse in clinical practice, have demonstrated professional development, have served as a role model and advocate for the advancement of nursing as a profession, and are recognized by the broader nursing community as a transformational nursing leader for 25 years or more.
Terry easily meets all of those standards and then some and we are proud to recognize her with the DAISY Lifetime Achievement award, thank her on behalf of our entire community for all that she has done throughout her career, and wish her the very best in retirement.
