Penny Rehwald, RN, Honored With 2025 Nurse Lifetime Achievement Award

In a heartfelt celebration of service, compassion, and excellence, Penny Rehwald has been named the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at Good Samaritan. With a nursing career spanning nearly 30 years, Penny’s name has become synonymous with compassionate obstetric care, unwavering support for grieving families and dedication to mentoring future generations of nurses.

Throughout her tenure at Good Samaritan, Penny has not only provided expert care to countless mothers and newborns, but she has also shaped the professional journeys of nearly every labor & delivery nurse on staff. Her influence resonates throughout the Perinatal Services Unit, where her legacy of calm, compassionate expertise continues to inspire.

Beyond her clinical excellence, Penny has poured her heart into the hospital’s grief support program for families experiencing pregnancy loss. Her leadership in coordinating the common burial ceremony and offering solace to grieving parents has brought dignity, care, and healing to those navigating unimaginable loss.

“Her career is a testament to the power of nursing to heal, comfort, and transform lives,” said Dr. Dustin Blackwell. “Penny leads with integrity, empathy, and grace—her compassion is as deep as her clinical knowledge, and her influence will be felt for generations.”

Penny stated, "receiving the Lifetime Achievement Nursing Award is one of the most humbling moments of my life. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for being recognized with this award. The Lifetime Achievement Award is a reflection of every patient cared for, every hand held, and every family that has experienced loss. I was extremely surprised and humbled to be nominated by Dr. Dustin Blackwell and Jenafer Burns and greatly appreciate the recognition. I am honored to have been recognized with this award."

Penny’s contributions have earned her multiple Daisy Awards and the Maridell Sargent Nursing Excellence Award. But for those who know her best, it’s not the accolades that define her legacy—it’s the thousands of lives she’s touched along the way, and the example she sets every day for what nursing can and should be.

Congratulations to Penny Rehwald, a true nurse’s nurse, and a beacon of compassion in the Good Samaritan community.