‘It is who I was made to be’

The path for Donna Ingram, R.N., R.R.T., B.A., to enter nursing was more practical than passion. She found that that a hospital would pay her to go to nursing school. But on the first day of class she says she was immediately hooked.

“The human body, functioning or not, is amazing,” said Ingram, who is a staff nurse in the Texas Health HEB’s Wound Care Clinic.

She quickly learned that her path to nursing was no accident. “It is who I was made to be,” she said.

With more than 30 years experience, patients often commend her for her skill, ability and caring nature. And recently her peers recognized her for the same reason. She was named to this year’s Great 100 Nurses list. The Texas Nurses Association and the Dallas/Fort Worth Nurse Executives annually sponsor the “Great 100 Nurses,” which honors registered nurses in the D/FW area who exemplify excellence in the art and science of nursing. Nurses are nominated by their peers, and may only be named to the list once in their career.

In all, Texas Health nurses won 35 of the 100 spots on the coveted list, accounting for more than one-third of the top nurses in the Metroplex — more than any other hospital or health system in the area.

Her peers say Ingram is “extremely kind and understanding of our patients’ needs.” Ingram often goes beyond the job requirements to help ensure patients get the extras they need, such as going to the drug store on her own time to purchase stockings for a patient whose wife was having difficulty finding them.

Ingram said she was surprise by the Great 100 Nurse award. “Rarely does someone get an award for just ‘doing their job,’” she said. “Nursing is my job, my source of income, my career choice, part of my identity, my best times (apart from family), my worst times, but also, it is my love and passion.”