One day, Jo visited my mom to encourage and inspire Mom to fight and feel good about herself by getting up, putting on makeup, and wearing your best clothes no matter how you feel. Mom followed her advice and felt a difference. When Jo is working, she stops by to visit Mom to give her love and encouragement. On challenging days, Jo makes herself available to cheer Mom up. When Jo was assigned to Mom, her expertise, wisdom, and ability helped turn a challenging day into a victorious one.
Jo shares her knowledge from both a clinical and personal experience. In the midst of obstacles or challenges, Joe is able to clearly explain why things happen or don't happen the way we expect. Also, Jo was able to help Mom understand the importance of having a foley catheter to monitor her urine output and for safety to prevent falls. Then, insert the foley catheter with minimal pain and discomfort compared to a recent traumatic experience. Jo's knowledge, expertise, and compassion helped her be an effective patient advocate.
Jo is such an inspiration to Mom. Her charisma, positive attitude, love, compassion, encouragement, and ability to connect with Mom positively impacts her to continue to be strong and courageous even when she doesn't feel like it. We are thankful to God for blessing us with Jo as Mom's nurse on the day we needed her the most.
I have had the pleasure of working with Jo for over 10 years now. Her DAISY Award comes as no surprise. She is dedicated to mentoring new nurses, providing compassionate and patient centered care to both Oncology and non-Oncology patients, and acting as their advocate. Her lovely singing voice is known throughout the unit and many of our patients. Her peers describe her as being knowledgeable, a reliable and helpful Resource nurse/coworker, along with being able to emotionally relate to her patients. We are blessed to have her as part of our Oncology family.