Joan retired in February of this year after over at least 30 years of service, she has worked in all 3 critical care units of LCMH; neonatal, pediatric and adult. She has served as a unit manager of the adult ICU, and unit coordinator for the PICU. She recently came back from retirement on an as needed basis to help with education in our PICU at LCMH, which in itself is an example of her commitment to educating those nurses caring for the pediatric population of our community. She has long been a role model for me, she is clinically one of the strongest nurses I have ever worked with. She has been an advocate for the pediatric and PICU units here at LCMH. I have seen her go above and beyond during our unit's time of turmoil over the years, even reaching out and meeting with local pediatricians to help promote the unit and keep it open. She has oriented and mentored countless new nurses over the years at LCMH.

I believe Joan exemplifies every characteristic that a living legend should have. I had the pleasure and honor of working with Joan for 6 years on the pediatric/PICU unit at LCMH. When I started working on the unit they had a very sick baby that had been there for a while and would likely stay for a while longer. While caring for that baby everyone on the unit would refer to Joan as grandma Jonie and she loved that baby like her own and he loved her right back. Not only did Joan provide him with the best medical care but she wasn’t afraid to also hold him and show affection even when he was in such a fragile state.

Watching Joan’s interaction with him in the early days of my career is what opened my eyes to what it meant to be a caring and loving nurse. It’s more than passing out meds and charting, it’s the heart behind it all and Joan has the biggest heart. Joan naturally taught as she went about her day and I gained so many assessment skills and so much knowledge from working with her.

Since Joan retired as a staff nurse our unit hasn’t quite been the same but I often think to myself what would Joan do. Joan taught me how to advocate for my patients, how to manage my time, how to assess and assess again, and how to carry two supper trays stacked on top of each other into a patient’s room. I know how blessed I am to have had Joan teach me as a new nurse and I hope that I can impact nurses in the same way that she has impacted me.