The first annual "Inspirations in Women's Health" contest announced the winner today during the first National Nurse Practitioner Week (Sept. 22-26, 2003). The "Inspirations" contest, sponsored by the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health (NPWH) and 3M Pharmaceuticals, recognizes nurse practitioners (NPs) who go above and beyond their responsibilities to increase awareness about women's reproductive and sexual health issues.

Inspirations Contest Winner

Kathy Zambo works on the medical staff at the Indian Health Service in Eagle Butte, S.D., on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation. Zambo is honored for her exemplary community-based initiative in women's sexual and reproductive health. She was the first health care provider to perform exams for the tribe's Women's Breast and Cervical program. She currently works with a specialty prenatal clinic.

Through her work, Zambo highlights the importance of dialogue between health care providers and patients, as well as education, by contributing medical/health care articles in several weekly and bi-weekly newspapers on the community, college and state levels.

Zambo also hosts a weekly morning radio program called "'Pejuta-Waste'-Good Medicine." This program helps to provide educational information to the public regarding wellness and disease prevention. She participates in ongoing health fairs at the high school level, stressing the importance of patient care for a variety of audience ages.

Kristin Chaussee and Barbara Dehn were highlighted as the contest's two honorable mentions for their successful projects in the fields of women's sexual and reproductive health. Chaussee single-handedly organized the concept of the Mid-Dakota teen clinic, which was developed to expose younger women and teenagers to the Mid-Dakota Clinic Center's services through an interactive, patient-focused program. She also has developed a Teen Web site in conjunction with the Teen Clinic in order to provide young women and teens a platform for ongoing communications as well as educational outreach.

Barbara Dehn realized that today's woman often does not have the time to read long, complicated passages about disease awareness. To answer this need, she co-founded Maps for Women in September 2002. The maps were developed to provide an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand reference guide produced in a stylish, unique, laminated "map" format. Similar to a city map filled with the "essentials" for a city tour, Maps for Women provides condensed, yet essential, objective information on several women's health topics.

The "Inspirations" winner and honorable mentions were chosen by the National Nurse Practitioner Contest evaluation panel that represents a variety of high-profile nurse practitioner organizations, such as the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Practitioner Associates for Continuing Educations, and the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nursing, as well as NPWH.

Kathy Zambo will be honored as a special guest during an "Inspirations in Women's Health" awards ceremony during the NPWH annual meeting Oct. 15 in Savannah, Ga.

Nurse Practitioners as Inspirational Health Care Models

NPs are the fastest growing health care profession(1), making them a critical front-line caregiver for patients. There currently are more than 100,000 NPs delivering a significant share of the primary care and prescription services available to patients today(2).

NPs focus largely on health maintenance, disease prevention counseling and, most importantly, patient education. They promote a distinctive approach to health care with an emphasis on overall care and wellness. They are distinctively focused on "caring" by taking the whole person into account with patient-centered care. They are specifically trained to educate and support individuals and families, assisting them in changing health behaviors as necessary and making informed, individual choices about their health and their health care.

The industry consists of registered nurses with advanced academic and clinical education and experience who are qualified to manage patients' health care needs. Education for NPs includes advanced nursing and selected medical studies, as well as intensive clinical experience specific to the NPs' area of expertise.

About NPWH

The National Association of NPWH (formerly the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Reproductive Health) was founded in 1980. NPWH's mission is to assure the provision of quality health care to women of all ages by nurse practitioners. NPWH defines quality health care to be inclusive of an individual's physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

NPWH is a trusted source of information on nurse practitioner education, practice and women's health issues. NPWH works with a wide range of individuals and groups within nursing, medicine, the health care industry and the women's health community.

About 3M Pharmaceuticals -- Part of the 3M Health Care Family

3M Health Care is one of seven major 3M businesses, serving medical, dental, pharmaceutical and personal care markets. 3M Pharmaceuticals, a division of 3M Health Care, develops, manufactures and sells branded prescription drug products related to dermatology, women's health, sexual health, cardiology and respiratory medicine. Additional information is available at www.3M.com/pharma.

About 3M -- A Global, Diversified Technology Company

Every day, 3M people find new ways to make amazing things happen. Wherever they are, whatever they do, the company's customers know they can rely on 3M to help make their lives better. 3M's brands include icons such as Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Dyneon and O-Cel-O. Serving customers in more than 200 countries around the world, the company's 70,000 people use their expertise, technologies and global strength to lead in major markets including consumer and office; display and graphics; electronics and telecommunications; safety, security and protection services; health care; industrial and transportation. For more information, including the latest product and technology news, visit www.3M.com.

Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Dyneon and O-Cel-O are trademarks of 3M.

(1) Richard A. Cooper, M.D.; Tim Henderson, MSPH; Craig L. Dietrich, B.S. Roles of Nonphysician Clinicians as Autonomous Providers of Patient Care. JAMA. 1998;280:795-802.

(2) National Sample survey of Registered Nurses. Conducted by the Department of Health and Human Resources.

KPRDebbie Harvey, 212-856-8491or3M PharmaceuticalsJeanne Parsons, 651-736-2610or3MJohn Cornwell, 651-733-7698