Regardless of position within the healthcare team, all members accept an inherent risk of injury and illness. Patients arrive at the hospital with transmittable illnesses that are eager and willing to infect the treatment staff. When one receives a bloodborne pathogen exposure there are a series of tasks to complete. One must file an incident report, draw blood from the patient, and then wait to hear if there is a risk of contracting an illness. The first contact that all staff receives when in this scenario, is a phone call from Mary-Rose Corey. Known to many but not all, Mary-Rose Corey almost single-handedly prevents nearly every member of our health system from becoming ill, every year, from the flu. Mary-Rose also counsels and manages the treatment of those exposed to a blood-borne pathogen. Mary-Rose is a care provider who makes tireless efforts every day and every year to keep the staff of UC Davis healthy and safe.

I met Mary-Rose when I was briefly in charge of Employee Health. I was immediately impressed with her organization and the profound scope of her responsibilities. Through my initial talks with her, I learned that Mary-Rose leads a team that annually supplies the staff of UC Davis with flu vaccines. She handles the supply chain and the administration of vaccinations at the Medical Center and at clinics throughout the network. Mary-Rose has been managing this responsibility for nearly a decade. Every member of UC Davis who wears a flu shot sticker on their badge has indirectly encountered Mary-Rose.

Further, when our hospital encountered the Covid-19 pandemic, it was the organizational knowledge that Mary-Rose possesses that enabled a smooth rollout of Covid vaccines to our entire staff. This resolute professional made UC Davis the first healthcare facility in the country to have greater than 80% of its staff vaccinated against Covid-19. On a system level, Mary-Rose is a supporter of nearly every staff member at UC Davis. However, Mary-Rose is also an individual one-on-one care provider to those who are at risk for infection. Due to patient privacy, it is difficult for me to provide examples of how Mary-Rose has counseled staff at the medical center. However, I am enthusiastic to share my observations.

From my desk across from her examination room, I frequently watched staff enter the clinic in tears and with visible and palpable anxiety. After an hour with Mary-Rose, colleagues would walk out of the room relaxed and supported with a treatment strategy established. During my time at Employee Health, I worked with Mary-Rose constantly. I was amazed by her ability to lead a department of volunteers to inoculate hundreds of employees per day. She exquisitely planned, months in advance, to ensure that supplies were present, and nurses were scheduled to provide vaccinations. Despite undertaking the enormous task of vaccinating nearly ten thousand staff members, Mary-Rose never stops counseling employees who are exposed to bloodborne pathogens; even when doing so mandates that she arrive at 5 AM and stay at work until much later. Mary-Rose is truly a unique nurse and care provider.

Frequently nurses are celebrated with a DAISY Award for the relationship or the care that they provide to one patient or one family. With Mary-Rose we must celebrate how she cares for UC Davis.