Melissa Ausanka-Crues Receives Philip Derf Service Award

Philip Derf

Philip Derf was a student in our nursing program at SF State from 1990-1994 who was known as an extraordinary asset to his fellow classmates. His commitment to public service touched many of the faculty and students. Sadly, he passed away before completing the program. In his memory, it has become a tradition SF State School of Nursing that each graduating class chooses one classmate from amongst its ranks to receive the honorary award aptly titled the Philip Derf Award.

For BSN A Summer/Fall 2020 semester, the recipient for the Philip Derf Service Award is Melissa Ausanka-Crues. The award was presented to her by the NSA ABP President Maurice Brady at the Pinning Ceremony for the Accelerated Bachelors Nursing Program cohort 1 at SFSU on October 25, 2020.

Melissa has served her fellow students in the Accelerated Bachelor’s Nursing Program as the Community Service & Mentorship Co-Director and has been a great friend to all. Additionally, Melissa keeps up-to-date with new nursing practices in the healthcare field and aids us all by communicating these updates in class. She is always open to help any student and was crucial in helping to communicate information to students during the pandemic about how to stay safe and program updates. If you had a question, Melissa likely knew the answer or she would be able to find it out for you. Furthermore, Melissa was always active in her community by volunteering to test people for COVID-19 and volunteering with San Francisco AIDS Foundation! We cannot say enough great things about her and that is why she truly deserves this award. She is always thinking of her community and her peers. She fights for their rights and health and now she will be able to do that as a nurse. Congratulations Melissa!! We cannot wait to hear about all the lives you will change as a nurse!