Janelle Amoako ’15 is staff nurse at Miriam, Master’s candidate at URI
A University of Rhode Island College of Nursing graduate and master’s candidate is already making waves in nursing administration, serving as the youngest member of the Board of Directors for the American Nurses Association-RI, and recently receiving the association’s most prestigious award.
Janelle Amoako ’15 was recently awarded the 2018 ANA-RI President’s Award, the association announced, which recognizes “a RISNA member who has volunteered their time, resources and experience in order to further the mission of the Association.”
“As a director on the ANA-RI board, she contributes her youthful energy and a fresh new look at Nursing,” the award announcement reads. “She helped with RISNA board initiatives through her committee work, coordinating RISNA’s presence at the SNARI’s (Student Nurses Association of RI) annual meeting and her realistic feedback on what nurses want and what they face in the acute care setting. It is this type of feedback that directs our efforts on behalf of all Rhode Island nurses.”
Amoako, a Cranston resident and staff nurse in the medical-surgical unit at Miriam Hospital in Providence, is serving a two-year term on RISNA’s Board of directors. Previously, she worked at Clinic Esperanza, which supports patients without health insurance, helping shape her commitment to address health disparities in access to care.
“Janelle combines her compassion and warmth as a nurse with clinical excellence to impact and help the lives of her patients and their families at some of their most vulnerable moments,” the association said in its announcement.
Amoako has taken her experiences as a recent college graduate, and advocacy for the future of nursing to the ANA-RI board.
“As an early career professional, my perspective was respected by the other board members because they wanted to have a good understanding of what newer nurses want from their professional organization,” Amaoko said. “When I was an undergraduate, I was very active in student organizations, and that motivated me once I entered the workforce. It is very easy to stay involved because I understand how important it is to be engaged in my community and my profession.”
Amoako earned her bachelor of science in nursing in 2015 and is working toward her master’s degree in the URI Family Nurse Practitioner program. She has served as co-chair of College Leadership Rhode Island, which works with college students and recent graduates entering the workforce, and she gives back to URI by tutoring junior and senior nursing students. That kind of dedication and selflessness contributed to her receipt of the President’s Award.
“I was shocked; I really was. Not because I thought I had done anything wrong, but because I feel like I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do,” Amoako said. “I’m just making sure I give back what I’ve been able to learn and take away. It’s important to give back into that pool.”
RISNA, a member of the American Nurses Association, is the authority on matters concerning the profession of nursing and nursing practice in the state of Rhode Island. RISNA is dedicated to the promotion, advancement and protection of nursing, thereby improving the quality of and access to health care in Rhode Island.