Luz Conde
December 2020
Luz
Conde
,
BSN, RN, CCRN
Electrophysiology Lab
The University of Kansas Health System
Kansas City
,
KS
United States
Luz has provided patient care with kindness and empathy to countless patients and families throughout her career.
It is with the utmost enthusiasm that I nominate Luz Conde to receive The University of Kansas Health System’s inaugural DAISY Award for Lifetime Achievement. Luz’s distinguished professional nursing career not only meets the requirement for longevity, but her career also meets all the award criteria.
Luz has provided patient care with kindness and empathy to countless patients and families throughout her career. She has also mentored hundreds of other nurses by combining her clinical expertise with a most wonderful calm, kind demeanor. Luz’s fingerprint has been left on the next generation of nurses through her work with Nurse Academy. Luz has impacted the profession of nursing through her work with the area Filipino Nurses Association. I have watched in awe at how this group has supported each other and, more importantly, how Luz has supported the group. Her work with the Kansas Special Olympics is equally as remarkable.
Not one to be satisfied by just making an impact in our own region, Luz has made her mark globally through regular mission trips to the Philippines. On her mission trips, Luz helped change the lives of children born with cleft lip and palate deformities. While some might see these surgeries as life-enhancing, I remain convinced the delicate repairs are really life-saving for many of these children. Of course, Luz never left the United States without pounds of clothing and other items to share with those in need in the Philippines. At this very moment, I know there are many on the island wearing leftover HERO T-shirts, thanks to Luz.
As if these many reasons were not enough to qualify Luz for the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award, it’s her work on the Engagement and Professionalism Council that is simply stunning. She’s been an active council member for several years. She is always the first to volunteer and the last to take credit for anything. Luz is a quiet ‘doer’ of work that has elevated the profession of nursing at The University of Kansas Health System. If it is true that the “high tide raises all ships,” then Luz is the “high tide.” She has been on the selection committee for award after award over the years. I smile thinking about the many award recipients who have experienced the joy of recognition, thanks to Luz. They have no way of knowing about the number of hours she has devoted to providing exemplary input on award selections.
During the annual 5 Star Symposia and Culture Conferences, Luz has planned CEs, moderated sessions, solicited prizes from local businesses, hired caricature artists and photographers, created flawless professional development display tables and much more. She arrives early and stays late. Her footprint on these events is made even more remarkable when one considers the pace of her highly specialized department.
During the most recent virtual symposium, Luz moderated an important session. She was so professional and calm on the broadcast that I had no idea she came straight from her unit in scrubs, put on a tailored jacket minutes before the virtual session and delivered a flawless session with her speaker before quickly returning to her department. How she does this without a crack in her lovely demeanor is quite beyond my understanding.
This nomination would not be complete without mention of Luz’s work with the HERO program. Luz is a “regular among the regulars.” Her work to feed the hungry, bring happiness to the poor at the holidays, promote bike safety, clean the community, paint homes and deliver more than 28,000 items to victims of a tsunami has changed lives. Like others, I am inspired by all that Luz accomplishes.
I will conclude with a quote from Wilferd Peterson who seems to have been speaking directly to those of us who know Luz when he said: “Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than you found it.”
Luz has provided patient care with kindness and empathy to countless patients and families throughout her career. She has also mentored hundreds of other nurses by combining her clinical expertise with a most wonderful calm, kind demeanor. Luz’s fingerprint has been left on the next generation of nurses through her work with Nurse Academy. Luz has impacted the profession of nursing through her work with the area Filipino Nurses Association. I have watched in awe at how this group has supported each other and, more importantly, how Luz has supported the group. Her work with the Kansas Special Olympics is equally as remarkable.
Not one to be satisfied by just making an impact in our own region, Luz has made her mark globally through regular mission trips to the Philippines. On her mission trips, Luz helped change the lives of children born with cleft lip and palate deformities. While some might see these surgeries as life-enhancing, I remain convinced the delicate repairs are really life-saving for many of these children. Of course, Luz never left the United States without pounds of clothing and other items to share with those in need in the Philippines. At this very moment, I know there are many on the island wearing leftover HERO T-shirts, thanks to Luz.
As if these many reasons were not enough to qualify Luz for the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award, it’s her work on the Engagement and Professionalism Council that is simply stunning. She’s been an active council member for several years. She is always the first to volunteer and the last to take credit for anything. Luz is a quiet ‘doer’ of work that has elevated the profession of nursing at The University of Kansas Health System. If it is true that the “high tide raises all ships,” then Luz is the “high tide.” She has been on the selection committee for award after award over the years. I smile thinking about the many award recipients who have experienced the joy of recognition, thanks to Luz. They have no way of knowing about the number of hours she has devoted to providing exemplary input on award selections.
During the annual 5 Star Symposia and Culture Conferences, Luz has planned CEs, moderated sessions, solicited prizes from local businesses, hired caricature artists and photographers, created flawless professional development display tables and much more. She arrives early and stays late. Her footprint on these events is made even more remarkable when one considers the pace of her highly specialized department.
During the most recent virtual symposium, Luz moderated an important session. She was so professional and calm on the broadcast that I had no idea she came straight from her unit in scrubs, put on a tailored jacket minutes before the virtual session and delivered a flawless session with her speaker before quickly returning to her department. How she does this without a crack in her lovely demeanor is quite beyond my understanding.
This nomination would not be complete without mention of Luz’s work with the HERO program. Luz is a “regular among the regulars.” Her work to feed the hungry, bring happiness to the poor at the holidays, promote bike safety, clean the community, paint homes and deliver more than 28,000 items to victims of a tsunami has changed lives. Like others, I am inspired by all that Luz accomplishes.
I will conclude with a quote from Wilferd Peterson who seems to have been speaking directly to those of us who know Luz when he said: “Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than you found it.”