Hector Echevarria, MSN, APRN
Hector Echevarria, MSN, APRN, an Ambulatory Surgery nurse, was recently selected for the prestigious honor of UHealth Staff Nurse of the Year during the 2021 Nurses’ Week at the University of Miami Hospital and Clinics. “He is a rising star on our nursing team and every day demonstrates that healthcare and keeping the patient at the center of care are his passions,” noted Viviane Leveille-Charles BSN, RN, MPH, NE-BC.
The son of a nurse and a physician, Echevarria discovered early in life that he had a calling to serve humanity by “healing and providing care to others.” Though named this year’s “Staff Nurse of the Year,” he was also pursuing graduate education and earned an advanced practice nurse degree in the spirit of life-long learning. He viewed this as an opportunity to give back to the greater Miami community. Though the pandemic highlighted competing commitments of family, work, and education, it underscored his intrinsic value of duty to patients and consistently prepared and ready to offer high-quality nursing care. Echevarria describes his commitment as “ongoing educational growth, along with dedication and hard work as pathways to service excellence.”
Echevarria was nominated and awarded the prestigious UHealth Nurse of the Year during the 2021 Nurses Week at the University of Miami Hospital and Clinics. He exemplifies the organizational values of diversity, responsibility, excellence, compassion, and teamwork. Within the framework developed by Jean Watson’s Caring Science, Echevarria assures that all patients are cared for with loving-kindness. The care he delivers demonstrates respect for the diversity of his patients. In addition, he maintains an exemplary attendance record and champions volunteer efforts, including the Dolphin Cancer Challenge, thus attesting to his sense of responsibility to the UHealth/University of Miami community and the patients served with a lens on safe, compassionate quality care. Echevarria is the epitome of the essence of UHealth Nursing and engagement with the Nursing Professional Practice Model.