Wanda Wirth has demonstrated a distinguished career in clinical nursing practice and has promoted a positive image of nursing for over 40 years while advancing her nursing education and credentials, most notably as an experienced Registered Nurse and now Certified Nurse Practitioner. She never forgot her lifelong goal of becoming a Certified Nurse Practitioner. She went back to college later in life and achieved that goal within the last few years. She is actively engaged in her professional development by continuing her education in the nursing profession, caring for patients with a higher level of responsibility, and never losing her compassionate demeanor. She serves as an exemplary patient advocate while being a provider of exceptional urgent medical care with genuine heartfelt intentions for improving patients’ lives. Wanda is second to none in her unwavering, loyal duty to caring for Veterans at the St. Cloud VA Health Care System.

Throughout her entire nursing career, she has always worked to provide direct patient care. This is the essence of who Wanda is: a compassionate caregiver at heart. She is a truly remarkable person who values all people and gives her best every time whether it was working as a Nursing Assistant as a teenager, a Registered Nurse in a small-town hospital, the Community Living Center or Urgent Care to managing complicated medical conditions as a Certified Nurse Practitioner.

Wanda demonstrates personal integrity and advocates for the improvement of patient care by lending her wisdom and her participation in ethics committee hearings. She contributes her experienced-based insights to the daily urgent care huddles, and workplace improvement projects such as improving patient length of stay times and door to provider times. All with a positive and caring outlook towards Veterans and fellow staff.

She has trained and educated countless nursing staff in the most caring and professional manner, and she exemplifies the ICARE values for Veterans with the very essence of her being, contributing to making this VA and Urgent Care, a wonderful, safe, and sought-after place to work.

She is an expert in Women’s Health and has furthered the Women’s health program and improved the quality-of-care Women Veterans receive at the St. Cloud VA by being the Women’s Health Care Provider for two years. She has other Providers and Nurses seeking her advice on how to care for female Veterans who present to Urgent Care and PACT with female health-related issues.

Wanda has the calmest, most compassionate demeanor of anyone I have ever worked with. She has the ability to turn chaos to calm with whomever she is interacting with. She recently had an upset patient who was yelling at staff. Staff were unable to reason with this patient. Wanda took him into an exam room and in typical Wanda fashion she spoke in a low tone and used a gentle touch with her hand on his to connect with the Veteran. She was able to get him to relax, quiet down, and listen to her as she explained the situation. Despite him not getting what he was demanding, this Veteran left, thanking her on his way out, and he no longer appeared upset. She was a role model to all nursing staff witnessing this interaction and enhanced this patient experience by just being her authentic self. She is known to her peers as “Wonderful Wanda.” This is just one example of how she came to be known as such.

Wanda has advocated for the improvement of patient care by seeking safer cervical collars to be placed on the Code Blue backpacks being used. She gave a presentation to Leadership on the research and the importance of having safer practices in place for patients that may have a neck injury after a fall and why hard cervical collars are the standard of care. Wanda routinely tries to improve patient outcomes and strives at enhancing the patient experience.

Just today, this comment card was received from a patient whom Wanda evaluated: “Provider Wanda Wirth is very friendly and really thorough. She did an excellent job. I would recommend her very highly. She is the best Urgent Care provider I have ever had here at the VA.”

Wanda works diligently until all her work is done, no matter the time, how long it may take, or whatever else she may have going on. She is extremely thorough and sees things through to completion. She absolutely puts Veterans' and others' needs as the number one priority, secondary to her own. Seldom do you meet a more warm, caring person. She is willing to tackle complex patients and situations without hesitation.

She is never heard speaking a harsh or ill word of anyone, staff or Veteran. Her compassion and kindness are second to none. She is a joy and pleasure to work with, and her patients regularly verbalize this when seeing her in urgent care. The entire Urgent Care Unit asks that Wanda Wirth be elected as the Lifetime DAISY Award recipient for a lifetime of compassion and kindness she has shown to her fellow humans.