Louise Yvette Charles

Louise Yvette Charles, a registered nurse with the Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), received the 2007 Excellence in Nursing Award from the New England Regional Black Nurses Association, Inc. (NERBNA) last month. The award, bestowed upon members by their peers, recognizes individuals for their contributions and meritorious efforts in the field of nursing. Charles received the honor on Feb. 9 at a ceremony at the Boston Marriott Copley Place celebrating both NERBNA’s 35th anniversary and National Black Nurses Day.

A native of Haiti, Charles graduated from nursing school in Port-au-Prince in 1977, immigrated to the United States in 1989 and earned her bachelor’s degree at Emmanuel College in 2004. She joined CHA in 1997 at the Zinberg Clinic, a multidisciplinary AIDS center at The Cambridge Hospital campus.

Charles is currently a public health nurse with the Cambridge Public Health Department, where she has worked since June 2003. She has dedicated her career to HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis patient care. Charles and her husband Jean-Baptiste reside in Medford, where she is a member of the choir at St. Joseph Catholic Church.

NERBNA is a chapter of the National Black Nurses Association and part of a national effort to unify, educate and recruit African American nurses into the profession. The organization provides health services to the community and offers mentoring, scholarship and educational opportunities to African American nurses and nursing students throughout New England.

Cambridge Health Alliance is a regional healthcare system with three hospitals and more than 20 primary care practices in Cambridge, Somerville and Boston’s metro-North communities. As a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance offers medical residency/training programs and undergraduate learning experiences in hospital and community settings.