Donald Tessitore, NP

For Donnie Tessitore, completing an undergraduate degree in Health Services Administration confirmed that health care was the field he wanted to work in, though he realized along the way that a strictly administrative role was not what he wanted. 

“I found myself drawn to the caregiving side. It wasn’t a career change, but the track that I took,” he said of his decision to become a nurse. 

After working as an RN, Donnie earned a Nursing master’s degree and post-master’s certificate at Sage. 

Today, he is an acute care nurse practitioner at Albany Medical Center and a preceptor for students in Sage’s graduate Nursing programs. 

“I work in hospitalist medicine, overnight,” he said. “I’m troubleshooting changing patient conditions, teaching and instructing nurses and providing them with clinical guidance.” 

In 2020, he was named Albany Med’s Employee of the Year. More than 100 colleagues nominated him for the honor, several specifically citing his mentorship. 

Donnie said his professors at Sage inspired him in his role as a mentor and educator.

“Glenda Kelman ingrained these foundational values of the nursing profession,” he said, ”and how as you evolve through your career, you develop skills and knowledge that translate into an opportunity to teach others.” 

He said that creating a supportive environment for the nurses he supervises has always been a priority, but has become even more important to him as the COVID-19 pandemic demands more from an already-demanding profession. 

“When people feel valued, they’ll have a collective commitment to their profession, co-workers and, most importantly, their patients,” he said.  

He refers again to Professor Kelman, and how she describes other outstanding nurses as “someone who really cares about caring.” It is who he aspires to be, and what he works to encourage in his colleagues. 

“That’s followed me through my whole career,” he said.