Dr. Novak has been a role model to numerous nurses and nursing students. She has been the prime example of life-long learning by earning her BSN in nursing from Southeastern Louisiana University, a Masters in Nursing from the University of Alabama Birmingham, a post MSN Nurse Practitioner degree from the University of Southwest Louisiana, and a Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Southeastern Louisiana. In 2024, she also became a certified clinical nurse educator. Therese has served in many capacities throughout LCMH. She has touched so many lives as a bedside nurse, educator, nursing faculty, and as a clinic nurse practitioner, and therefore was honored with the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award.