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>> It's the relationships.
It's the people that do make it, the families that you get to interact with.
And there is actually a patient who has been 25 years post bone marrow transplant who comes
up every year to visit and to just say, "Thank you."
And that's what I like about it, is that you do hear back from people --
especially when you work with such a great staff.
I mean there is a lot of really awesome people that work up on Oncology, so -
it's very, very, very much appreciated.
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>> I love the interactions that I can have with my patients, those intimate moments
where they kind of reveal to you something that they are worried about
and that you can talk them through it and really help it.
And I don't think I could have gotten that with a different route.
I don't think there is a greater honor than being recognized by your peers for what you do.
It means other people that are with you every day
and really have the highest expectations for your performance.
I look up to a lot of the nurses on my unit as role models, so the fact that they would think
of me and think that I was deserving of this award is really - amazing feeling.
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>> It's very humbling for me.
It's very - because I kind of feel like in many ways we all deserve it.
And in many ways we all are a piece of the patient care --
you know, right down from Housekeeping to, you know, all the people that are in between.
And I kind of feel like I, you know,
tried hard to do my best give the best patient care that I can for each patient.
It's just - it's humbling to have somebody say, "Well, Judy, you do a nice job."
And so it's - in that respect it is - it's kind of them to recognize that and appreciate that.
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>> I really enjoy a day when there have been issues come up and I have had to talk
to this one and that one and a bunch of different people,
and at the end of the day I have got a plan in place with the patient.
They are happy, everything is as it needs to be for them to be successful going forward.
I was speechless, which my coworkers would tell you is really unusual, let me tell you.
But it tells me that I am on the right track.
And I need to just keep going, do more, be more, keep growing.
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>> I think the thing I enjoy the most is when people come in a lot of times they are hearing,
you know, a diagnosis for the first time.
And it's kind of rewarding to be able to be there with them as they are going
through that process -- and talk them through it and give them, you know,
the ideas of how we are going to get through it together, the treatment plan.
And then I get to kind of be with them through their process and their whole treatment.
They are with us, many times, for weeks to months.
They are our patients for years, and we really get to develop good relationships with them.
And it's really nice to kind of have that relationship with each patient.
It makes me feel like I am doing what I was supposed to do.
You know, I was meant to be a nurse.
It's what I'm good at, and this is just kind of recognition that I'm
on the right path doing the right thing.
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>> I love that I don't have the same day twice, ever.
So that it's challenging, but challenging in a good way.
And I just like the relationships that I get to form with patients and their families.
It's just really nice to get to see a patient from the beginning
of their hospitalization till they go home -- so having that one-on-one connection with them
through a difficult time, it's just really fulfilling.
It's nice to get recognition from your peers and feel like what you are doing is good
for your unit and helping your unit.
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>> It means to me that my peers, they recognize how hard I have worked
and what I do to the patients.
And I would like to say, "Thank you" to them,
and also that I am very humbled for receiving this award.
Coming into the hospital right when my shift starts and knowing that it's not all about me,
it's about somebody else, like, immediately.
You can come there as a nurse and be there for them to give them empathy, to give them trust
that they are safe, to give them a feeling of caring, compassion at the bedside.
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>> The whole collaboration of everybody together, you know,
to achieve the same goal, is what we are all working for.
And working in the operating room, it's not solo nursing.
It's not one on one.
It takes a full team to do that.
It was something I have always wanted ever since I knew about it.
And when I started I wanted to work and achieve my nursing practice
in order to get something like that.
But I didn't want to - I wanted to earn it, and I wanted to get it the right way.
I didn't want to say to one of my buddies, "Hey, nominate me for that."
I didn't want to do that.
You know, I wanted it to be real.
So it feels good that - I think I did that, because I never told anybody I wanted this.
But I always did.
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>> I think that I was a little bit - a bit shocked when I first - like, you know,
it was kind of a secret nomination from my coworkers.
And, you know, downstairs on that wall of, like, Nurse Excellence,
I know when I was in the residency walking past them.
You know, like, "Oh my goodness.
I work with some of those nurses."
And then actually being on the floor and working with them I was,
like, "Wow, these people are amazing.
They are excellent."
And now to be, like, a part of that is - I'm still a little bit in shock.
I mean I put 100% into my job every single day.
I always think, "You know, if I was in that bed, what would I want to be done to me?"
And I think that I try to embody that with every patient, every situation.
So yeah, it's just - it's great.
It's quite an honor.
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>> Just with my own childhood, I was in the hospital a lot.
And so it felt like a second home.
It felt comfortable.
Nothing felt scary about it.
I know there are a lot of people who are nurses who say that they could never work in Pediatrics
because of some of the things that we see.
And I can't imagine doing anything else because of the things that we see.
And I also realize that me getting this speaks for everybody that I work with,
because of course they don't do any of this alone.
And so I recognize that.
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>> I was extremely surprised, completely blown away but yet very humbled that some
of my colleagues that I work with have recognized me.
I think there are lots of things that help people be good leaders,
I think one of which is making sure that you have your own mentors and to be mentored.
And I have certainly had many mentors along the way.
And one of the favorite things that I do is that I really support the nursing staff, you know,
at a level making sure that they are receiving the education that they need in a way
that they want to receive it --
as well as helping support nursing staff become leaders too.
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