Inside Duke Medicine
2 honored for supporting employees in Guard, Reserve
posted July 27th, 2010Barbara Willis, RN, BSN, CCRN, CMTE, clinical operations director for Life Flight, and Marsha Porter, RN, BA, clinical operations director for the Duke North operating rooms, were honored recently with an award for their outstanding support of employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve.
The award was presented by the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. One of Porter’s staff, surgical tech Robert McNeal, is a National Guard member who returned three months from more than a year in Iraq.
“Marsha and the other people here were very supportive of all the training that I was having to go through [before deploying],” says McNeal, who nominated Porter for the award.
“Duke has a commitment to support our service members,” Porter says, “and the staff are very supportive as well of Robert’s efforts and other service members’ efforts.”
A member of Willis’ staff, flight nurse Patrick Falvey, RN, left a few weeks ago for a tour of duty in Iraq.
Employer support and understanding are key to helping employees serving in the military deal with the stresses and complications of deployment, Willis says.
“It just gives them a little relief and peace of mind that Duke is here to support them and that Human Resources is here to support them, and that we as a whole are looking after the military that are employed within Duke and supporting them in their efforts,” she says.