Pine Plains Resident Rich Tamburrino Voted Top Nurse

Critical care nurse Rich Tamburrino, of Pine Plains, was named the 2024 Top Nurse of the Year at a celebratory dinner on May 1, hosted by Hudson Valley Magazine. Tamburrino stood out among 20 recipients of the magazine’s Excellence in Nursing Awards for his significant impact on patient care. A panel of judges, consisting of instructors from Mount Saint Mary’s College School of Nursing, selected the honorees.

“I knew I was in the top 20, but I never figured I’d win,” said Tamburrino, who has worked at Vassar Brothers Medical Center for 12 years. “People 10 times better than me were in that group, even my first on-the-job trainer.”

Tamburrino credits his successful nursing career to longtime friend and Pine Plains resident Bruce Knickerbocker. “He showed me that nursing was cool,” Tamurrino said. “I could work in the medical field and still have time for my family. He inspired me to get my degree at Dutchess County Community College.” Men make up 12% of U.S. nurses. Among the 20 Excellence Award winners, Tamburrino was the sole male recipient.

Knickerbocker, administrative nurse manager at Vassar Medical, said, “Rich is an integral part of the Vassar team. We have no other night nurse in cardiothoracic critical care like him: Rich has unparalleled expertise.”

Tamburrino is one of a handful of specially trained nurses in Dutchess County certified to operate many different lifesaving devices, including bypass machines, heart pumps, ventilators and external pacemakers. “He’s not only technically proficient, Rich has humanitarian skills. He relates to patients from all walks of life. It’s personal with him,” Knickerbocker added.

Pine Plains resident Jennifer Osofsky, patient critical care manager at Vassar Medical, has been Tamburrino’s supervisor for seven years; she nominated him for the award. “Rich’s volunteerism gave him the edge for the top honor. He is as committed to the youth of Pine Plains as he is to the community of patients at the hospital,” she said. “I’ve known Rich for more than 20 years. We went to [Stissing Mountain] High School together, and I coached Little League with him. Rich is selfless, always the first to jump in and help.”

Tamburrino admitted that maintaining a work-life balance is a challenge: “I work three 12-hour night shifts a week at Vassar and I coach seven days a week, plus I’m president of the Pine Plains baseball and softball committee.” His involvement in Little League centers, in part, around his 9-year-old son and 7-year-old twin daughters. “Sports is our main time together, I coach their teams,” he said. “Being with my kids is special. I want to soak it in.”

Tamburrino said he has to be organized to find time to hunt and fish with friends. “I go early when my kids are asleep,” he said. Tamburrino credits Ashlea, his wife of nine years, for making his achievements possible. “She is so supportive — and that’s an understatement,” he said. “She’s an unsung hero.”

Aside from the chronic sleep deprivation from working nights — Tamburrino joked that he’ll sleep when he’s dead — he said his career is rewarding.  “Life is full of fluff and superficial nonsense,” Tamburrino said. “Work is truth; real situations and emotions. When you take care of a critically burned child, or a cancer patient my age with little kids, it’s hard. But helping them is the best part of the job.”