Glen Cove nurse receives ‘Cause for Applause’ award

Nurses provide invaluable services ranging from crisis response to educating patients on health and wellness. It’s difficult to quantify the impact of nurses like Adele Gutierrez, of Glen Cove, who has been recognized for her compassion and her dedication to her community. 

The 48-year-old Gutierrez, a registered nurse at the State University of New York at Old Westbury, began working there 12 years ago. Since then she has been recognized as a supervisor of the year, and on Aug. 1 she received the Cause For Applause Award, the culmination of a campus-wide nomination process and review by a staff forum. 

Gutierrez’s career journey began unexpectedly, when the then 31-year-old job coach for the Association for Habilitation and Residential Care saw her grandmother, Rose Gregory, having a seizure in her nursing home. Gutierrez was left feeling scared, confused and helpless. She said she wouldn’t have known how to help her grandmother without her sister, Angelique Gutierrez, who was their grandmother’s nurse. 

“My sister was fully in control,” Gutierrez

said. “She just knew how to give her what she needed with grace, and with such care, and such calm.” 

This emergency inspired Gutierrez to begin a new career path. She knew she wanted to be able to provide the same care for others in emergencies that her sister could. 

Gutierrez, who describes herself as a late bloomer, said that academics weren’t a major focus when she was growing up, but she attended night school at Suffolk County Community College for three years to earn a nursing degree. Afterward she worked at the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center for a year, with patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.  

She began her tenure at SUNY Old Westbury as a nurse in the campus’s Student Health Center, helping those in need find therapy and resources for addiction. She is also active in Horseabililty, a nonprofit specializing in equine therapy and hippotherapy — occupational and physical therapy for humans that involves horses — which operates at the Clark Family Stables on the college’s campus.

“I really found my niche,” Gutierrez said. “I have to be honest, it doesn’t feel like work. It’s the best job. My heart is community focused.” 

Gutierrez isn’t a Glen Cove native, but knew she wanted to be part of the community well before she moved to the city two years ago. She has done part-time work for the Community Mainstreaming program at Glen Cove’s Tulip House, a nonprofit that helps those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

“This community seems very welcoming to me,” she said. “I’ve landed here, and I can honestly say I’m home here.”

Gutierrez is also an avid supporter of the Sea Cliff-based Girls Rising, another nonprofit created by the all-female rock band Antigone Rising to empower and inspire girls and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer children to pursue careers in male-dominated fields.

Gutierrez also embraces her creative side with a podcast called “Mix’d Kinish,” co-hosted by her longtime friend Yvonne Biagioni. The show name plays off their diverse ethnic backgrounds, and features a deliberate misspelling of a popular Jewish snack. Gutierrez describes it as “a doughy mix of Italian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, love, laughter and gay” that focuses on topics related to those who identify as LGBTQ. 

Joshua Phillips, director of residential life at SUNY-Old Westbury, said that Gutierrez’s exceptional dedication, her ability to support and uplift others, and her role as a representation of diverse voices make her a deserving candidate for recognition. He describes her as a shining example of the positive impact one person can have on an entire community.

“Adele’s inclusive and compassionate approach sets her apart,” Phillips said. “She actively listens to the concerns and needs of others, providing valuable guidance and assistance. Her genuine care for everyone she interacts with creates a safe and welcoming environment where individuals feel heard and supported.”