SANDY STAMOULIS was presented with a lifetime achievement award during the 2017 President’s Pursuit of Excellence Dinner hosted by Rhode Island Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital President Margaret M. Van Bree on Nov. 14 at the Rhode Island Convention Center. During her 35-year nursing career, Stamoulis served 10 years as Rhode Island Hospital’s vice president of patient services and chief nursing officer before becoming vice president of cancer services for Lifespan Corp. in 2002 until her retirement in 2005.
What made you want to become a nurse? It was in my DNA. My mother was a nurse during World War I, and I have two sisters who are nurses. As the youngest, I was often asked why I didn’t study to be a doctor. Nurses are the glue that holds the health care team together, keeping the patient as the focus and advocating on their behalf.
In what ways did you advocate for the advancement of nursing during your career? During my career, I was lucky to have mentors who were leaders in nursing and I wanted to emulate everything they stood for. … A highlight of my career was helping to develop the role of case managers and assist them in going back to school for their master’s degree. Another was working with nursing schools to develop internship programs that offered hospitals a stream of nurses who were both competent and compassionate.
Explain the genesis of the Anne C. Pappas Breast Imaging Center at Rhode Island Hospital, named after your late sister, and how it has helped in treating breast cancer since it opened. Dr. Barbara Schepps, who directed Rhode Island Hospital’s mammography program for years, had the vision of a space and program where women could have their breast imaging done in a dedicated center, including a specialized radiologist immediately available to them. So, when Dr. Schepps and I talked in 1995, I encouraged my brother to make a naming gift in memory of our sister, Anne C. Pappas, who died from metastatic breast disease diagnosed too late. Under Dr. Martha Mainiero’s leadership, it has state-of-the-art technology, board-certified radiologists and was designated the first Breast Imaging Center of Excellence in Rhode Island by the American College of Radiology.
How much has cancer treatment in Rhode Island grown under your guidance, particularly when you were senior vice president of cancer services for Lifespan? In 2002, after 10 years as chief nursing officer at Rhode Island Hospital, I was asked to help create a cancer center for Lifespan, along with my colleague Dr. Fred Schiffman. … Our goal was to bring together the outstanding and comprehensive services at all Lifespan hospitals to deliver world-class cancer care right here in Rhode Island. We provide a setting where all members of a patient’s team – radiologists, surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists, nurses and social workers – gather to discuss the best evidence-based care for each individual patient.
In what ways are you still active in the medical field and with fundraising efforts? I am honored to serve on the Nursing Advisory Council at Rhode Island College. It is exciting to witness the changes in nursing education. The need for caring and competent nurses is more important than ever given the rapid advancements in medicine and technology.
