ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, May 24, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Rebecca Armstrong, Child Life Program Director for Presbyterian Hospital, has been named a Worldwide Who's Who Professional of the Year in Health Care support services. While inclusion in Worldwide Who's Who is an honor, only a small selection of members in each discipline are chosen for this distinction. These special honorees are distinguished based on their professional accomplishments, academic achievements, leadership abilities, years of service, and the credentials they have provided in association with their Worldwide Who's Who membership.

Ms. Armstrong, who was also selected to be featured in Pro-Files Magazine, has 23 years of experience in Health Care support services and 15 years of experience in her position at Presbyterian Hospital. She is a Child Development Specialist and Family Counselor with a background in Education. She is driven with a strong work ethic, and passion for Education and Family Advocacy. Furthermore, she believes functioning productively in society starts with family and core values.

Devoted to providing quality care for patients and families in the hospital setting, she recognized the need for a children's area to expand at Presbyterian. Ms. Armstrong spear-headed and assisted in the fund-raising and design of a therapeutic play area at Presbyterian Hospital. A child whom had lived at the hospital for four years was the impetus in creating a unique indoor/out-door therapeutic play area adhjacent to their medical care where sunshine, growing herbs, flowers, sitting, reading , playing ping-pong or basketball were some of a multitude of options. Specific to the design, it was important to create a multi-generational environment that would allow adults to be able to sit back and relax as well, Hence, the "crown-jewel" of Presbyterian is referred to as Rachel's Courtyard versus a playground. A Courtyard implies a place of rest and relaxation. After five years of fund-raising, a $1.5 million dollar structure was completed, named Rachel after a patient. Ms. Armstrong counselled the family through the demise of Rachel, their daughter. Rachel's Courtyard is now appreciated by patients and their families of all ages, including adult patients who have children that need therapeutic support.

Her role is also diverse as she focuses on Health Care Career development by supervising high school and College Internships. She is responsible for lecturing ,fundraising,while assisting in designing additional therapeutic play areas for children who are ill and disabled. Ms. Armstrong and her staff also coordinate an Annual Health Care Fair that teaches hundreds of children about hospitals and their services. An important aspect of her position is the provision of therapeutic family support in the Adult Intensive Care,Cardiac Critical Care and Maternal Special Care units where pending demise and coping is addressed. At that point, she interfaces with families and helps them to remember good times and positive memories to help them through difficult times. She also serves as a member of the Neonatal Intensive Care Hospice Program and the Pediatric Update Annual Conference Board considering topics to assist Medical Staff in gaining new knowledge.

Ms. Armstrong attributes her success to her perseverance and passion, she became involved in her profession because she has cerebral palsy and was hospitalized throughout her childhood. Her surgeries were performed at the Hospital For Special Surgery in New York City. Her father was founder and Chief of Infectious Diseases at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for 40 years, one block South of her hospital. She recognizes the support she received growing up in a medical family and does not take this for granted.

While Ms. Armstrong was training for her counseling degree, she decided to study what support children receive in the hospital, and started volunteering with the The University of New Mexico Child Life Program. She was hired there to supervise the playroom and focus on the development of chronically ill pediatric patients. Ms.. Armstrong later accepted a position as Director of the Child Life Program at Presbyterian Hospital in 1998,where she is presently.

Wanting to continue to improve her services, Ms. Armstrong completed an Internship focusing on hospitalized children in England in 2006. She holds a Master's degree in Counseling, which she earned in 1994 at The University of New Mexico, and a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education, earned in 1981 at The University of Vermont. In the near future, Ms. Armstrong hopes to expand her programs and collaborate more with the medical profession. She also intends to assist in building a park for disabled children in Rio Rancho,New Mexico as well as focus on publishing some of her work.

To view information about Rebecca Armstrong, visit http://www.rebeccaarmstrong.net.

About Worldwide Who's Who
With over 500,000 members representing every major industry, Worldwide Who's Who is a powerful networking resource that enables professionals to outshine their competition, in part through effective branding and marketing. Worldwide Who's Who employs similar public relations techniques to those utilized by Fortune 500 companies, making them cost-effective for members who seek to take advantage of its career enhancement and business advancement services.

Worldwide Who's Who membership provides individuals with a valuable third-party endorsement of their accomplishments, and gives them the tools needed to brand themselves and their businesses effectively. In addition to publishing biographies in print and electronic form, it offers an online networking platform where members can establish new professional relationships.

For more information, please visit http://www.worldwidewhoswho.com.

Contact:
Ellen Campbell
Director, Media Relations
[email protected]

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