Julie Peterson
September 2023
Julie
Peterson
,
BSN, RN CWOCN
Wound Care Services
Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center
North Chicago
,
IL
United States
Your faithful and compassionate commitment to your patients and your service to our warriors and heroes reflected both benevolence and excellence.
You, Julie Peterson, have been awarded the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award for your contributions to ensuring the highest level of patient care during your 49 years of exemplary service. Throughout your tenure, you have demonstrated the VA Core Values of “I CARE”: Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence.
You have been a witness to many changes in your 49 years of service. In 1974, you started your career in the Respiratory/GI Unit when this facility was known as Downey Veteran’s Administration Hospital. You cared for the first ventilator patient at this facility. Although nervous and inexperienced with the new technology, you remained true to your patients and your commitment to providing safe care. You then led the nutritional support team and saw the need for specialized care for Wound, Ostomy, and Continence patients. You became a Certified Wound Ostomy and Continence Nurse (CWOCN) and have provided a vital service and cost savings beyond measure. You spearheaded the creation of the Wound Ostomy Continence Clinic. Fast forward 34 years, and be proud of the legacy you have left. You have healed complex wounds, but importantly, touched the lives of so many patients and educated so many nurses.
You are widely known at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center as a leader in wound and pressure injury management. You began the VA-mandated Inter-Professional Pressure Injury Committee. Over the years, you have mentored all incoming wound care clinic staff, nursing teams throughout the facility, and countless patients. You have been a role model to new personnel and assisted in their education to ensure patient-centric, safe, and efficient wound care practices.
You consistently displayed caring and thoughtfulness while giving your all to every patient you came in contact with. You are loved, respected, and trusted by the veterans and active-duty service men and women you cared for, spanning almost five decades.
Your teaching legacy to future nurses was simple and concise. You gently advised, “Before you speak, ask yourself these three questions: Is it true? Is it kind? Does it need to be said?” Leading up to your retirement, you once commented, “It was an honor serving and caring for heroes and warriors and working with the best colleagues. I started my career here, and I will end my career here.”
Thank you for everything you have done. Your faithful and compassionate commitment to your patients and your service to our warriors and heroes reflected both benevolence and excellence. You have made our workplace and the people in it shine. We are all privileged to have been your colleagues and your friends.
You have been a witness to many changes in your 49 years of service. In 1974, you started your career in the Respiratory/GI Unit when this facility was known as Downey Veteran’s Administration Hospital. You cared for the first ventilator patient at this facility. Although nervous and inexperienced with the new technology, you remained true to your patients and your commitment to providing safe care. You then led the nutritional support team and saw the need for specialized care for Wound, Ostomy, and Continence patients. You became a Certified Wound Ostomy and Continence Nurse (CWOCN) and have provided a vital service and cost savings beyond measure. You spearheaded the creation of the Wound Ostomy Continence Clinic. Fast forward 34 years, and be proud of the legacy you have left. You have healed complex wounds, but importantly, touched the lives of so many patients and educated so many nurses.
You are widely known at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center as a leader in wound and pressure injury management. You began the VA-mandated Inter-Professional Pressure Injury Committee. Over the years, you have mentored all incoming wound care clinic staff, nursing teams throughout the facility, and countless patients. You have been a role model to new personnel and assisted in their education to ensure patient-centric, safe, and efficient wound care practices.
You consistently displayed caring and thoughtfulness while giving your all to every patient you came in contact with. You are loved, respected, and trusted by the veterans and active-duty service men and women you cared for, spanning almost five decades.
Your teaching legacy to future nurses was simple and concise. You gently advised, “Before you speak, ask yourself these three questions: Is it true? Is it kind? Does it need to be said?” Leading up to your retirement, you once commented, “It was an honor serving and caring for heroes and warriors and working with the best colleagues. I started my career here, and I will end my career here.”
Thank you for everything you have done. Your faithful and compassionate commitment to your patients and your service to our warriors and heroes reflected both benevolence and excellence. You have made our workplace and the people in it shine. We are all privileged to have been your colleagues and your friends.