UConn Health Celebrates Its Nurses - UConn Today

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May 4, 2026

UConn Health

May 4, 2026 | Chris DeFrancesco '94 (CLAS)

UConn Health Celebrates Its Nurses

Honoring 1,200+ RNs, APRNs and CRNAs, including 6 Nightingales, for Nurses Week

nurse handing a supply to a co-worker in postoperative setting — Toni Ann Ryan, a nurse in the postoperative services unit, is of UConn Heath’s six Nightingale nurses for 2026. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)

exterior shot of UConn Health at night with building sign lit red — UConn Health lights up red for Nurses Week 2026. (Photo by Dorothy Linnhoff)

UConn Health is celebrating Nurses Week May 3-9, recognizing its more than 1,200 nurses, nurse practitioners, and nurse anesthetists in 30 different roles across the institution.

Among them, six are winners of a 2026 Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, which recognizes nurses’ impact on patient care and their profession, and is considered one of the most prestigious honors in nursing.

“Choosing our Nightingale nurses is one of the most challenging and at the same time most rewarding tasks,” says Caryl Ryan, chief nursing officer and the UConn John Dempsey Hospital chief operating officer and vice president for quality and patient care services. “That is because we have so many outstanding nurses and we only can honor six of them in this way each year. This year we had 34 nominees, and every one of them exemplifies the unparalleled commitment that our nurses have to their patients and their profession. Our nurses are instrumental in the institution-wide efforts that elevate our quality and patient safety year after year. Nurses Week is always such an extremely proud time for me, and I am so fortunate and grateful to work with such an incredible group of dedicated clinicians.”

Florence Nightingale, widely credited as the founder of modern nursing, was born May 12, 1820, and Nurses Week is generally observed within a week of her birthday.

As part of its Nurses Week celebration, UConn Health invites colleagues to leave notes and share photos on a virtual gratitude wall. This year’s theme is “Teamwork/ Power of Nursing.”

UConn Health’s 2026 Nightingale Nurses

Kristen Cannata, MSN, RN
Heart Failure Program Coordinator, Clinical Effectiveness & Quality

Domenic Cote-Roy, MSN, APRN, AGACNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner, Intensive Care Unit

Laura Glynn, BSN, RN
Staff Nurse CN3, Surgery/Orthopedics (University Tower 5)

Shiela Lafleur, BSN, RN
Clinical Patient Navigator, UConn Medical Group, Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorders Center

Melissa Revicki, MSN, EFM-C, NPD-BC
Professional Development Specialist, Labor & Delivery, Mother Baby, Professional Practice & Clinical Excellence

Toni Ann Ryan, MSN, RN
Staff Nurse, CN2 Postoperative Services

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