...This story starts on a life-changing day, October 5, 1996, when Tammy and her family were involved in a nearly fatal car accident rendering Tammy as a critical trauma patient. After many years of surgeries, struggles and much determination, Tammy was finally able to walk again. However, she was deemed permanently disabled by physicians. Tammy was not willing to allow this incident to define or defeat her so she started working in a part-time position at a tanning salon, all while picking up the pieces of her life and raising her daughter. Her previous career as a hair stylist was no longer possible because of the injuries she suffered. Therefore, Tammy had to reexamine her life and figure out what direction to move into next. Tammy decided that she wanted to take her experiences as a trauma patient and help others. She decided that the best way to do this was to go to school to become a nurse. Although she received much resistance from physicians and many others regarding her decision to go back to school, Tammy decided that she was going to determine her own future and would not let anyone stop her. Despite all of the obstacles she had to endure, Tammy graduated from nursing school in 2007 at the top of her class. In the same year, Hamot Hospital gained one of their best assets, a trauma ICU nurse named Tammy Steger.

Ever since becoming a nurse, Tammy has made a difference in the lives of countless patients. She is the best nurse I know and is truly a role model to me and many others. Although she has not been a nurse her entire life, you wouldn't be able to tell. Her knowledge and natural ability to care for individuals is paramount. She is now a charge nurse and is always an exemplary model of what a nurse should be.

Tammy always goes that extra mile to make sure that her patients receive the best possible care and never cuts corners. She advocates for her patients and will often research on her own time, attempting to understand what is happening to her patients. She is compassionate and is always seeking to better identify with her patients. She is always placing herself in their shoes, in an attempt to treat them how they want to be treated. Many patients have referred to her as their angel and continue to have contact with her because of the huge impact she has had on their lives.

She shows leadership through her many roles in multiple house-wide and unit-based committees, as a preceptor, as a charge nurse, and many more. She has earned other awards because of her exceptional care and work ethic, as well as many DAISY Award nominations. She is so deserving of this award and proves it every day.