Carolyn L. Strimike, MSN, RN, CCRN, APRN, BC, Advanced Practice Nurse-Cardiology
at the Women's Heart Center at St. Joseph's, was recently selected to receive the St. Joseph's Healthcare System 2006 Employee of the Year Award.
Additionally, in recognition of her outstanding efforts to educate women about heart disease and risk reduction, she received the Woman of Vision Award
from William Paterson University and the William C. Gates Health and Human Services Award from the Paterson Rotary Club.
Ms. Strimike was selected from more than 6,000 employees from throughout the St. Joseph healthcare
system to receive the hospital award where she
provides comprehensive cardiac risk
assessment screenings to women that enables them to know their risk for heart
disease and adapt heart healthy behaviors to reduce their risk. She also offers a
one-hour presentation on Women and Heart Disease to women's groups and organizations
throughout Passaic, Bergen and Essex counties. She has given more than 100 of these
community presentations in the last year.
"I initially went into nursing because I wanted to care for people who were critically
ill and wanted the personal interaction that nursing provides," Carolyn said.
"I have spent the last 16 years
working in cardiology and critical care nursing. Over the last several years I have developed
an avid interest in women and heart disease. I believe that nurses can have a major impact
on improving outcomes in women with heart disease. We provide educational programs and health
screenings to help women identify their individual risk factors and empower them to
actually prevent heart disease and stroke" she said. Carolyn said that the screening process
takes around 45 minutes to complete. Part of the screening entails
targeting risk for metabolic syndrome and many of the women meet this profile, she said,
yet the women are totally unaware. "We're following
newer guidelines for metabolic syndrome, such as measuring neck circumference (above 34 cm places you at risk).
We're also looking at body mass index,
body fat analysis, and bloodwork."
Carolyn believes that women are pleased with their cardiac risk assessment.
"It's through this personal connection, customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth that our
center continues to grow."
Ms. Strimike has been a nurse for
almost 20 years. She received her both her Bachelor of Science and Master's
degrees in Nursing from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She is
a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the international honor society of nursing as well.
She is a national member of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses,
the Cardiovascular Nursing Council of the American Heart Association, the
Preventative Cardiovascular Nursing Association, the American College of Nurse
Practitioners and an Associate Member of the American College of Cardiology.
She has published extensively in professional journals and has given more
than 60 papers and poster presentations throughout the United States.
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