Her patient presented the award to Mary Ann at the meeting of the Patient Care Congress. The nomination read:

“Being in the hospital is much like camping; time moves ever so slowly; each event is amplified by acute awareness; any and every sound or feeling is mentally enlarged and scrutinized; then fear becomes the entertaining mission of the day. Add a healthy helping of anesthetics and questions come faster than real time. Enter Mary Ann Martin, a nurse that every post-op patient should have caring for them. Every time she entered, she filled the room with confidence, caring and compassion that was the real deal! Very early on a Saturday morning, she came in and shared that my doctor was rounding and asked if I would like to be up and waiting to discuss my situation. This was very thoughtful.”