Wanda Ostrowski started her nursing career with Oakwood Heritage Hospital in August of 1996. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Her area of expertise is Critical Care. Wanda demonstrates Compassion daily toward her patients and families. She is especially attentive to those patients and families dealing with difficult end-of-life decisions and who are grieving. She is a strong advocate for patients and is sensitive to patients' spiritual needs as well. Wanda is frequently the charge nurse for the ICU, serving as a Rapid Response RN and as well as a preceptor to new hires. Wanda is also a member of the Innovation Task Force at Heritage, which is led by President Kelly Smith and won the 2012 CEO Team Award.

Wanda was nominated for the DAISY award by a colleague who said:

Wanda exemplifies everything a nurse should be: compassionate, competent, easy to work with and ALWAYS puts the patients first. Wanda always lets management know when there is an issue on the unit regarding patients or family and is not afraid to advocate for them. One particular instance stands out for me:

We were called to a code on one of the units and Wanda and I responded. The patient was actively dying; however her code status was questionable. Because the patient was deteriorating fast, the resident wanted to continue with full life support. However, Wanda intervened and advocated for the patient and stopped the resident and explained that we MUST figure out the correct code status and we MUST follow her wishes. The resident was shocked and surprised that a nurse would react this way, however, in the end, she was right, and the patient had a DNR code status. We held the patient's hands and she passed with us at her side, peacefully. It was a bittersweet moment. That day, I was proud to be a Heritage RN, working with Wanda.