(From left) Joanna Embry with Frances Ettore, nurse manager of Ravdin 6, Edward Franklin, also a unit secretary on Ravdin 6, and Jill Gehman, clinical director of Cardiovascular Nursing.
HUP’s unit secretaries are the “backbone” of patient care units. “You’re the first face our families see and you make them feel welcome,” said Jackie Somerville, PhD, RN, HUP’s chief nurse executive, at the annual presentation of the Helen Lysun Unit Secretary Award. “You impact the staff around you with the energy you bring to that space.”
This year, out of 15 nominations, Joanna Embry of Ravdin 6 was chosen to receive this special award. According to her nomination, “Joanna is an exceptional secretary and team member who exceeds the job description with every task she works on.” For example, she created comfort kits to help patients sleep better and takes the time to purchase birthday cards and have staff sign them for hospitalized patients because “she knows it will make a patient’s day better.”
Joanna is extremely compassionate.The wife of a patient who was transferred from Ravdin 6 to the ICU visited her regularly. “When Joanna discovered that the patient’s wife was staying in a hotel because she lived far away and lacking a personal connection to anyone else, she purchased small gifts to help the patient’s wife feel more at home and organized meals to help her cope.”
Her friendliness and compassion extend to employees as well. “Joanna takes the time to help ancillary staff members feel a part of the team.” After she introduced an EVS team member to each staff member on a daily basis, he told the Ravdin 6 staff that theirs was the “only unit at HUP in which staff know him by name.”
Through all of Joanna’s efforts, “she makes HUP a home for everyone and has become the unofficial “mom” on Ravdin 6.
All unit secretaries “go above and beyond, all the time, every day,” said Jill Gehman, MHA, BSN, clinical director of Cardiovascular Medicine at last month’s Helen Lysun Award ceremony. “You make our patients’ stay just a little bit better.”
Congratulations to all of this year’s Helen Lysun Unit Secretary Award nominees:
- Pam Daniels...................................Silverstein 10
- Roxanne Williams.........................Founders 10
- Sharon Jacob.................................Rhoads 4
- Marsha Mond-Hayes....................Founders 14
- Anthony Cothran..........................Rhoads 7
- Carla Neal......................................Founders 10
- Donella Wright..............................Donner 3/MICU
- Malika Abdus-Salaam..................Founders 14
- Karen Robertson...........................Rhoads 2
- Thesea Kocher...............................Founders 5
- Joanna Embry...............................Ravdin 6
- Gernadette Pellegrino...................PeriOp
- Ronald Crafton..............................Emergency Department
- Lorna Taylor..................................Silverstein 9
- Christina Wilkins..........................Silverstein 8