California State University, Fresno alumna Sandra Lourido was named Nurse of the Year for 2009 by the Nurse Council at the California Association of Health Care Facilities’ annual convention. Lourido earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Fresno State in 1987.
Lourido has dedicated 30 years to healthcare, spending the last four as director of workforce development for Kennon S. Shea and Associates in El Cajon, a company that provides eldercare, Alzheimer’s and rehabilitative services in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
She has piloted, developed and implemented multiple programs to assist patients and increase the skill levels of caregivers.
“It is always great to hear success stories from our alumni,” said Michael Russler, chair of Fresno State’s Nursing Department. Lourido has called Russler the person who played a key role in the development of her career and contributed to who she is today as a professional and an individual.
Lourido pioneered a vocational English as a second language program for Certified Nursing Assistants and achieved a 100 percent retention rate of graduates.
She also coordinated an outreach program for homeless elders in Tijuana, Mexico, to provide services and supplies at a makeshift facility. In her free time, she is enrolled in a program to develop the skills of therapy dogs.
(Copy by University Communications student intern Valerie Hosch.)
