CANTON -- Mercy Medical Center will recognize National Nurses Week by honoring five of its nurses for their clinical excellence and compassionate care.

The nurses with Mercy Clinical Excellence Awards include Rose M. Fry, R.N., B.C., who works in behavioral health services. Fry, a graduate of the Mercy School of Nursing, began volunteering at Mercy as teenager. She has attained Clinical Ladder IV and serves as a unit educator and practice council member.

Other honorees are Christina M. Ashcraft, R.N., B.S.N., intensive care unit (I.C.U.); Debbie Davis, L.P.N., medical unit; Misty A. Mitchell, R.N., B.S.N., medical unit; and Laura Snode, R.N., same-day surgery. Winners were selected for their exceptional clinical skills, teaching abilities, communication, teamwork and professionalism.

Mercy selected Snode as its Cameo of Caring award winner. She will be honored later this year during a gala sponsored by the University of Akron College of Nursing. Cameos of Caring, originally created in 1999 by the University of Pittsburgh's School of Nursing, recognize "those unsung heroes on the front lines of health care." Akron is the third university nationwide to adopt the Cameos of Caring event.

National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, which is also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12. The American Nurses Association has announced this year's theme, "Nurses: Making a Difference Every Day."

Mercy Medical Center, along with the Sisters of Charity Health System and University Hospitals Health System, operates a 476-bed hospital serving Stark, Carroll, Wayne, Holmes and Tuscarawas Counties and parts of Southeastern Ohio. It has 550 physicians on its Medical Staff and employs 2,500 people. Mercy operates outpatient health centers in Carrollton, Jackson Township, Lake Township, Louisville and North Canton. A Catholic hospital, Mercy Medical Center upholds the mission and philosophy of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine and continues to be responsive to the needs of the community, including the provision of care to all, regardless of their ability to pay.

For more information, see www.cantonmercy.com <http://www.cantonmercy.com.