Sharon began her career at Children's in the NICU as a Charge Nurse and infamous starter of IVs and PICC lines. She then returned to school and became a Certified Wound RN. She was the first person to take on this new role at our hospital and also was in charge of the VAS team for a while. Sharon then was able to concentrate on just wound care as the hospital grew and our patient population became more diversified and more critical all contributing to more wounds and more children at risk.
No one knows her exceptional work better than me because I have had the pleasure of being her partner. Sharon has been one of the most passionate nurses I know, always saying yes to a patient with a wound. She has made our hospital one of the leading wound centers, I believe, with the latest and greatest treatments and dressings she helped pick all with scientific evidence she keeps abreast in.
I cannot tell you how many families tell me about the difference Sharon made in their child's recovery and how they so looked forward to her visits. Some of the words used to describe her by them are so nice, gentle, smart, caring and determined as she worked so hard to get a wound to heal.
I must say that she also has a fabulous sense of humor that adds to her personality. I will never forget the day she told me a cute story about one of our frequent flyer hematology oncology patients with a chronic pressure wound on his fanny. She had gone to see this eleven year old and in his chatty, inquisitive way asked Sharon how much money she made. She said she did ok and he quickly said that she must make a lot of money having to look at people's butts all day! It made her day and she so enjoyed sharing his remarks with me.
But on a more serious note Sharon has worked very hard to reduce our hospital-acquired pressure wounds. She has been in a national consortium, researched the best products to use for prevention and participated in writing guidelines of care and policy to help us keep our number of pressure wounds lower. It is amazing to look at the policies she has written and made available to all bedside RNs.
She loves to teach and one of her latest presentations as a guest speaker was at a University of Washington conference. She delivered an excellent presentation on pain and the pediatric patient. Besides teaching our nurses, she teaches students from the wound school of the UW, too.
I cannot think of a better time for her to receive the DAISY Award than as she retires from a brilliant career at our hospital. Thank you Sharon for all you have done!