Labour and Delivery nurse receives Shannon Adams Nursing Excellence Award
(Taylor Timpf, a Registered Nurse in the Maternal Newborn Unit at Norfolk General Hospital, received the 2026 Shannon Adams Nursing Excellence Award during National Nursing Week. The award recognizes nurses who demonstrate compassion, leadership, teamwork, and excellence in patient care.)
At Norfolk General Hospital, nurses often meet people on some of the hardest days of their lives. They support frightened patients, guide families through uncertainty, and help people feel heard during difficult moments.
That kind of care was at the centre of this year’s Shannon Adams Nursing Excellence Award ceremony, held during National Nursing Week from May 11 to 17, 2026.
The event also recognized nursing preceptors and the important role they play in supporting and mentoring future nurses entering the profession.
This year, the second annual Shannon Adams Nursing Excellence Award was presented to Maternal Newborn Registered Nurse, Taylor Timpf.
The award honours the memory of Shannon Adams, a longtime Norfolk General Hospital nurse remembered by coworkers for her warmth, humour, and compassion. Shannon sadly passed away in 2022 after a courageous battle with cancer, but Shannon’s influence is still felt throughout the hospital today.
For Taylor, the recognition was deeply personal.
“I had the great privilege of learning from Shannon as a new graduate nurse,” she said. “She instilled in me the importance of maintaining dignity, to always provide compassionate care, and to never underestimate the power of kindness and humour.”
A recognition from fellow nurses
The Shannon Adams Nursing Excellence Award is based on peer nominations and recognizes nurses who show compassion, leadership, teamwork, and consistency in their daily work.
This year’s nominees included Shannon Bailey, Wendy Gee, Maya Pineo, Laura Stoepker, and Sarah Webb.
Each nominee was recognized for the way they support patients, families, and coworkers through difficult moments and everyday care alike.
(Nurses nominated for the 2026 Shannon Adams Nursing Excellence Award gather at Norfolk General Hospital during National Nursing Week. From left are Sarah Webb, Laura Stoepker, award recipient Taylor Timpf, Maya Pineo, Wendy Gee, and Shannon Bailey.)
“Taylor’s recognition reflects the kind of compassionate care nurses provide every day across our organization,” said Amanda Sonnenberg, Vice-President Clinical and Chief Nursing Officer. “I also want to recognize all of this year’s nominees and thank everyone who took the time to nominate a coworker. These nominations speak to the respect nurses have for one another and the important work happening across our teams each day.”
For Taylor, knowing her colleagues saw those same qualities in her meant more than she can fully explain.
“Shannon had an unmatched warmth about her,” she said. “She was always willing to lend a hand and made everyone feel important and respected. To have my peers feel that I am deserving of this recognition is the highest praise I could ever receive.”
Rebuilding local maternity care
Many people at the hospital already knew Taylor’s name long before the award ceremony.
In 2021, Norfolk General Hospital temporarily closed its Labour and Delivery Department because of staffing shortages. Families in the community suddenly had to travel outside the county to give birth.
Taylor was a key part of the team that helped bring those services back.
She remembers the pressure of that time, but also what it showed her about healthcare.
“It was remarkable to see everyone come together to provide the best possible care to the women and babies of our community,” she said.
She said the experience taught her the value of teamwork and trust.
“It showed me the importance of being a dependable and effective team member, recognizing your own strengths and relying on the expertise of others to reach a common goal.”
For local families, reopening the unit meant they could once again deliver their babies close to home, surrounded by familiar faces and support systems.
The small moments patients remember
Taylor says nursing is often about the moments people never see.
“What motivates me most is being able to leave a positive and lasting impact on the lives of those I care for,” she said. “Knowing that in some way, big or small, I have made a difference.”
Coworkers describe Taylor as someone patients naturally trust. The kind of nurse who stays calm when things become stressful. The kind of nurse who remembers that people are more than their medical chart.
That connection matters in a smaller community hospital, where staff often care for neighbours, friends, and people they may later run into at the grocery store or local arena.
Carrying the work forward
Taylor began working at Norfolk General Hospital in 2019 and is now completing her Master of Nursing Nurse Practitioner degree through Athabasca University.
She says the hospital helped shape both her career and her life.
“My coworkers have become some of my closest friends,” she said. “I feel supported, respected, and appreciated in my work, which has helped me flourish into the nurse I am today.”
As for the award itself, she says it will always remind her of the nurse who inspired her in the first place.
“Receiving this award has been the greatest honour of my career,” she said. “It speaks to the lasting impact Shannon has had on me.”
She says the recognition also belongs to the nursing teams around her.
“Nursing is never done alone,” she said. “Every nurse nominated for this award deserves to be recognized for the care and compassion they bring to patients every day.”
Inside the halls of Norfolk General Hospital, that kind of work often happens quietly.
But for the patients and families who experience it, the impact can last a lifetime.
Media Contact:
Aaron Gautreau
Director of Communications and Public Relations at NGH
W: 519-426-0130 ext. 2454
