One of those winners is on a mission for patient and staff safety.
"I was an Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts, which helped really drive my ideas about service and leadership," says Ian Montgomery, BSN, RN, MEDSURG-BC.
And Ian's first college degree was in environmental policy, but that wasn't a good fit.
"I wanted a career that combined direct human impact with systems thinking," he explains.
So Ian headed to nursing school, working as an EMT along the way.
He loves bedside nursing, but as a natural problem-solver, wants to find solutions to key dangers every hospital deals with - falls by patients, and accidental needle sticks staffers receive.
Leadership on those takes more than identifying the issue.
"You need to find the clinical leaders that can help advance the project. You need to get buyers for general ownership of the project," he says.
And you need people to keep a project going.
On falls, Ian says the risks have to be put in terms patients understand.
"I'd like you to improve on the standard care plan and not spend another week here because you hit your head on the floor," Ian says, imitating a potential patient encounter.
But he must also speak a second language - that of hospital administrators.
Being a frontline leader on these issues and others earned Ian a Sunshine Award nomination from his colleagues at Virtua Marlton.
"He's really looking to improve the safety and outcomes of patients," says Koleen Cavanaugh, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer for Independence Blue Cross.
IBX says it's proud to shine a light on the amazing work of nurses.
"I really think they are the backbone of the healthcare system," she says.
"As long as you can be 1% better every day, you can make a lot of great change, and there is no one who is so inconsequential that you can't learn something from them. You can learn something from anyone," Ian says.
In addition to daily nursing, he's also in a dual master's program - in nursing leadership, and healthcare administration.
And he's designated Cathedral Kitchen, which addresses food insecurity and workforce development to receive his $2500 donation from Independence Blue Cross.