Nurse Strives to Make the World a Better Place

Sonya Flores, R.N., BSN, a nurse home visitor with the Combest Center's Nurse-Family Partnership Program, recently received the inaugural Rising SON (School of Nursing) Award.

The Rising SON Award was created to provide performance recognition for continuous quality improvement of School of Nursing staff. Any faculty or staff member may submit a nomination and the Rising SON Award will be given each month, quarter and year.

“I was completely honored and taken by surprise when I was presented with the Rising SON Award,” Flores said. “My career in nursing has shown me time and time again that I have been placed where I am supposed to be.”

She added, “I have been fortunate enough to work at a job I truly love surrounded by caring teammates that have strong work ethics and good moral values. This career has helped me to grow as a person and continue to strive to make the world a better place.”

Flores has been with the School of Nursing since June 2009. She serves low-income first-time mothers many who are teens from troubled homes and their babies.

“Sonya is a dependable and motivated team member who functions autonomously and in a team, and has excellent clinical judgment,” said Nurse-Family Partnership Program Supervisor Lisa Dillard, R.N., BSN. “She goes above and beyond the call of duty, like assisting a client with substance abuse by guiding her to a place to get help."

Flores also participated on the Nurse-Family Partnership Performance Improvement Committee charged with developing a breastfeeding protocol to improve outcomes for patients and clients enrolled in the Nurse-Family Partnership Program.

The Combest Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center serving Lubbock and the surrounding areas. The Nurse Managed Center specializes in primary care and management of chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma, hypertension and obesity for all ages. Nurse practitioners, family medicine physicians and pediatricians care for patients.