Julia is the definition of a DAISY Nurse. She herself is a childhood cancer survivor (age 16) and an adult cancer survivor (her cancer returned when she was pregnant with her second child - she delivered her daughter and went straight to transplant). She has walked the road our survivors are traveling. I feel our POST program is the best in the country. Julia is a cancer survivor and I am a mother of a cancer survivor - we bring both perspectives to the table. When Julia had the opportunity to start the POST program at the Park Ridge campus, from day one she took ownership of the program. Survivorship can be a lone island in a sea of acute care. She is persistent and passionate to make sure survivors' needs are not lost in the acute care setting. She is compassionate and shares her journey when appropriate with other survivors, which helps reduce their anxiety that they are not alone in this journey. She has also taken ownership of the brain tumor survivors at the PR campus, many were treated and their survivorship needs were never addressed. She listens to patients and will reach out to sub-specialists to discuss why she is referring survivors to their clinic as many healthcare workers have not received survivorship education during their training.
Because of her past experience as the quality assurance nurse, she has brought her previous experience to the table at PR and helped with the development of QI measures in pediatric oncology and survivorship. She has coached nurses at the PR campus and guided them through the many changes that have occurred because she experienced those changes at her previous job. Her previous experience helped explain the light at the end of the tunnel to staff who have not experienced the pain of growth and change.
Also, on "the side", Julia runs a foundation that provides textbook scholarships for childhood cancer survivors throughout the country. There are so many stories I can write but she is my rock on life and growth of the POST Clinic!! We have walked a road many do not want to walk but we are passionate about our jobs and she shares that not only with me but her patients and staff. We are blessed to have her at Advocate!!!