Meet the 2022 Liota and Marren Award Winners!

Congratulations to the 2022 Liota and Marren Award winners: John Tawiah and Natasha Merjuste, who were nominated by their VNS Health colleagues and selected by a committee of nursing leaders!

John Tawiah, Psychiatric Nurse, Bronx ACT Team, Winner of the Marilyn Liota Award

The Liota Award to Promote Cultural Diversity in Nursing Leadership, named after long-time VNS Health nurse and Queens Regional Vice President Marilyn Liota, is awarded each year to help an exemplary VNS Health nurse realize her or his leadership potential. The award provides a $1,500 scholarship for expenses related to nursing studies, continuing professional development, or communication/English language skills development.

“Fighting the stigma around mental illness, and helping my patients lead better lives, are my driving forces.”

In the Ghanaian village in which John grew up, mental illness was viewed as demonic possession. He is haunted by memories of a childhood classmate who would occasionally vanish into the bush. “I’ve heard since that they put her in a prayer camp, where mentally ill people are hidden away, often chained to trees,” he says. “They try to heal them with prayer, and don’t understand that this is an illness that can be treated medically.”

With an electrician certificate in electrical installation work, John moved to the US in the early 2000s, initially getting a job stocking shelves at a pharmacy. “That’s where I first encountered home health aides who’d come in with their clients,” he says. “It gave me a first glimpse at what caring for a patient looked like.”

John went on to work as a nurse attendant in a nursing home, then as a patient-care technician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, while putting himself through nursing school at the same time. Fascinated by everything he learned about mental illness and the brain, he knew he was hooked during his psychiatry rotation in nursing school. When a job as a psychiatric nurse opened up at VNS Health nine months ago, he leapt at the opportunity.

Working in some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the city has only strengthened John’s passion and resolve. “I look at things from a humanist point of view, and I understand how a history of poverty and inequality can lead to substance abuse and mental illness,” he says. “Fighting the stigma around mental illness, and helping my patients lead better lives, are my driving forces. It’s a vulnerable community that needs a lot of help and treatment intervention. If I can help a person with mental illness get better, get a job, and lead a better life, that’s what motivates me.” As part of an interdisciplinary team, John also educates his colleagues on medication interactions and how some medical conditions can affect mental illness.

Passionate about education, John plans to go back to school to become a mental-health nurse practitioner at some point—but not quite yet. “My wife is starting nursing school in the fall and we have two daughters who have to be taken to school and picked up,” he notes. “It’s a challenging time, but a rewarding one. Until the time when I return to school, I will keep on learning, reading, and working to destigmatize mental illness every day.”

Natasha Merjuste, Clinical Intake Manager, Business Development, Winner of the Joan Marren Award

The Marren Leadership Award to Promote Evidence-Based Practice & Quality Improvement, named for Joan Marren, former VNS Health Chief Operating Officer and President of VNS Health Home Care, provides a $1,000 scholarship per year of study for a master’s degree in nursing or other nursing-related advanced degree. The award can be put toward school-related expenses not covered under VNS Health’s Tuition Reimbursement Program.

“In every position I’ve had at VNS Health, I’ve been able to use my experience to focus on quality, customer service, and the best possible patient experience.”

Natasha developed her passion for home care while working at Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn. “As a floor nurse, you interact with many different patients, but there never seemed to be enough time for discharge planning—teaching a patient how to dress their wounds or take their own insulin,” she says. “I always wanted to know how they would keep on going at home.”

A fellow nurse at VNS Health inspired her to join the organization in 2008. “In every position I’ve had at VNS Health, I’ve been able to use my experience to focus on quality, customer service, and the best possible patient experience,” she recalls. “I was a field clinician in Brooklyn and absolutely loved it. After eight years of great hands-on experience, I wanted to explore the leadership and administrative side, focusing on quality and intake—so I went on to become a supervisor in the central intake department.”

In her work overseeing intake coordinators, Natasha used her field experience to answer questions, review referrals, and advocate for patients. “Patients are often discharged from the hospital without adequate supplies or information,” she notes, “so my team was tasked with ensuring that they got what they needed so they’d be safe in the community.”

From there, Natasha progressed to become a Clinical Field Manager, where she mentored home care nurses in the field. In that position, she was instrumental in the implementation of VNS Health’s new electronic medical records system, Homecare Homebase. When an opportunity arose in Business Development to manage the Central Intake Team—her current role—she was excited to take on the new challenge.

As if that weren’t enough to keep her busy, Natasha is enrolled in a master’s program in Nursing Administration & Leadership, and has also earned a Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma—a process-improvement method that relies on team brainstorming to identify workflow issues, reduce waste, and pilot programs.

“My team and I rolled out an app that provides clinicians with community resources for patients, with the goal of lower rehospitalization rates,” she says. “It’s like a one-stop-shop featuring everything from available social services to where a patient can get a prescription filled a day after surgery. We were able to reduce rehospitalization rates in Home Care by 3 percent, which is huge. That was a real highlight of my career.”

Natasha plans to use her Marren Award prize money towards resources for school and books—especially the nursing-research books that she devours.