Inside Duke Medicine

Duke Raleigh honors Champions of Excellence

Duke Raleigh Hospital recognized 21 extraordinary staff members as the 2009 Champions of Excellence at an awards banquet on October 6. There was also a special ceremony at Duke Raleigh Hospital's Cafeteria on October X to honor those champions who could not attend the banquet and to allow all of champions and staff to celebrate together.

These recipients were recognized for consistently going beyond expected job duties to provide quality service at Duke Raleigh. In addition, the recipients exemplify the Duke Raleigh Hospital values – safety, teamwork, respect, diversity, service, community and achievement.

The champions were nominated by their co-workers, and many received multiple nominations. The nominators recognized the champions for their hard work, dedication and commitment to their role at Duke Raleigh.

The 2009 Champions of Service celebrated with a guest of their choice and their manager. Champions received a plaque and lapel pin to commemorate their service.

Duke Raleigh is very fortunate to have such outstanding individuals who daily contribute to providing extraordinary care. The following excerpts from the champions’ nomination forms highlight the caliber of excellence these individuals bring to Duke Raleigh Hospital:

Mike Beavers
Supervisor – Engineering
Mike Beavers is the “gentle giant.” A man of integrity, quiet demeanor, and a tremendous positive attitude, Mike embodies the values of DRAH in every aspect. Both a doer and a delegator, he is careful not to ask others to do those things he wouldn’t do himself. He is an even-keeled individual who approaches conversation and responsibility with both a broad smile and a willing attitude of “What can I do for you?” Once when asked why he is so positive, he responded, “It is a choice to be positive or negative. I choose to be positive.”

Kathy Brammer
SDS Pre-Op Team Leader
Kathy Brammer is truly a Champion of Service Excellence. She is the “glue” that holds the SDS Pre-Op area together. Known for her cheerfulness, wit and amusing quips, she amazes us all by the way she remains calm and levelheaded in such a hectic environment. A high-volume, high-traffic area sometimes exceeding 100 patients a day, SDS runs efficiently due to Kathy’s coordination of our teamwork. She has the capacity to multitask to the extreme.

Ann Brandley-Loner
CN III – Telemetry
Ann Brandley-Loner’s work habits and ethic have not changed since she was a nursing assistant and attending nursing school. She has maintained a “can-do” attitude and a “glass-half-full” outlook during her tenure at Duke Raleigh. Even when telemetry staffing has been slim and others resorted to less than a positive attitude, Ann has remained realistic but extremely upbeat to pull the staff together in the spirit of “we can get through this if we just work together!”

Sherlene Christen
Senior IT Analyst/Pharmacy
Sherlene Christen is a Champion of Excellence. She always goes beyond the call of duty in her approach to her work. As the IT analyst for the Pharmacy Department, she wears many different hats as she manages the pharmacy systems including Meditech, Pyxis, and Omnicell, in addition to our medication inventory. Most recently, she spearheaded the change from Pyxis medstations to Omnicell by working many days in excess of 12 hours, only to then continue working when she got home.

Valerie Havener
CN II – Orthopedics
Valerie Havener sees what needs to be done and gets it done. It does not matter what socioeconomic background, race, age, or occupation someone is, Valerie treats everyone she encounters with the utmost respect. Often serving as the charge nurse and as a preceptor, both roles that she is well-suited for, she does not hesitate to assist others on the orthpaedics team when they need help. Her pleasant demeanor and willingness to do what needs to be done sometimes finds her assisting the NAs and HUCs with a smile and a helping hand. The operations administrators really like for Valerie to be “in charge” because she understands patient flow and always approaches their requests with “we’ll find a way, we can do it!” And then she does whatever is necessary to make it happen, whatever “it” is.

Erna Nonato
CN II – MedSurg
As a new and young graduate nurse, one would expect this nurse to be just like so many others who have come into the organization – maybe a little bit slow in providing care to patients – admittedly since they are just beginning to practice and settle into the real world of patient care. But not this one! This “little one” is unlike others. Erna Nonato is like a well-oiled machine that works hard to provide the best care to her patients and is still smiling at the end of the day.

Don Overman
CSD: 10.9.06 - 10.6.09
Director – Security
Don Overman has distinguished himself by outstanding service as an employee of Duke Raleigh Hospital. He assists all customers, both external and internal, by meeting their needs when called upon to do so. He provides information and direction to patients, guests, vendors and employees visiting or working on campus, ensuring that their time is as pleasant and productive as possible.

Barbara Parker
PT Assistant/Wound Care Assistant
Have you ever seen this petite, smiling, quiet woman going about her business in the hospital? Perhaps it was as you were getting on the elevator, or working on one of the inpatient floors, maybe even in the Cancer Center or another building on campus? Barbara Parker seems to be everywhere, effortlessly! Her primary role is to assess patients for skin breakdown but she does so much more than that. She ensures that a patient is cleaned, comfortable, repositioned, hydrated and fed before she moves on to the next one.

Theresa Parker
@ National Wound Healing – Clinical Nurse Manager
Dates at DRAH: 8.20-07 -7.21.08 before transitioning to WHC
This nominee exemplifies the meaning of life – she gives from a heart abounding in love. She gives to those who love; she gives to those who hate. She gives to those who cry; she gives to those who laugh. She hugs her patients who are financially prosperous – those who can cover up their smelly wounds with perfume or cologne. She hugs the patients who do not have water to take baths and wear body odor as part of who they are. She gives from a heart abounding in love. This nominee spends her lunch time singing, “You Are My Sunshine” to a demented nursing home patient who week after week, finishes her song with his expected part: “my only sunshine.” This ritual brings a tear to her eye and a broad smile to this patient’s face – every week.

Rodney Phillips
Security Officer – Employee Services
Hired as a PRN in 2007, this employee soon was recognized for his above average work ethic. He was constantly volunteering to assist with any and every undertaking that Security was involved in. In a short matter of time, Officer Rodney (Rod) Phillips became full-time. During his tenure, he has demonstrated excellence in the values of Duke Raleigh. Taking his responsibilities quite seriously, he set about ensuring the safety of the campus.

Steve Radford
Telecomm Specialist – IT
Steve Radford has truly exhibited the attributes of an individual who deserves to be a Duke Raleigh Hospital Champion of Service Excellence. Steve is one of those people who are often behind the scenes, in this case keeping the phones working throughout all the areas of the hospital. The most impressive aspect of what Steve has done on a daily basis is that he is the only person handling phone issues for all of Duke Raleigh.

Dale Russell
Director – EVS
Dale Russell has worked for the hospital for nearly 22 years. His entire career has been in facilities management: environmental services, laundry/linen, and patient equipment servicing. With a meticulous attention to detail, Dale has consistently guided a work team that has ranked at the top of the service quality standard within the health system. He has done so by explaining and applying the rules of engagement to his staff and then by supporting them.

Dale Stevenson
Biomedical Equipment Technician
Occasionally, you encounter a person who makes a difference by the way he simply says, “Good morning.” Dale possesses that almost magical quality and spreads it far and wide in his travels throughout DRAH, never missing the opportunity to greet everyone he passes. He doesn’t simply say “hello,” he beams “I’m really happy to see you.” You can easily sense that it’s for real. When asked for assistance, his response is immediate and thorough with a quiet confidence that instills the requester with the confidence that the help given will be quick, professional, and genuinely offered to make your day better.

Teresa Stallings
HR Specialist – Education Support Services
Teresa Stallings embodies Duke Raleigh’s values. She is a team-player in the truest sense of the word. There is not any task that she will not take on to assist employees who visit in education as well as her own team members. In managing the orientation process, she interfaces with all new hires as well as many established staff. Orientation is a large part of her responsibility and as such, it continues to receive high marks session after session, noting that the flow, the cast of presenters, and the quality with which it is presented outshine other orientations attended and is by far the most interesting as noted by participants. Her positive attitude and attentiveness to orientee and presenter reflect her caring attitude towards others.

Dori Trone
Nurse Clinician – Hematology/Oncology
This nurse is a Champion of Service Excellence both as a human being and as an RN. She is always looking out for patients’ safety and making sure they are knowledgeable about their care. She stays late many evenings, making calls to her patients to follow up with them. She and the physician she works alongside see as many as 18 patients per day. She is amazing, always smiling even though she works in a high-stress area. She is a team player who helps her co-workers draw labs and start IVs for the infusion team. She always keeps the safety and comfort of the patient in mind as she tried to draw the lab and start the IV with one stick. “No” is not in her vocabulary when it comes to assisting in the hematology/oncology department.

Rudy Trosclair
Zone Mechanic – Engineering
Rudy Trosclair has been with Duke Raleigh for over 18 years. Everyone knows Rudy’s name. He is in high demand for his services. If there is a maintenance problem, Rudy is the man people call first. There are times when the staff will walk the unit specifically to find him because they know he will get the job done. He is very well respected by everyone at the hospital. Rudy is always smiling. Willing to assist anyone, Rudy has a calm demeanor even when staff is anxious, assuring staff not to worry because he’ll take care of the issue. Rudy neither affixes nor passes blame for a problem but readily apologizes for inconvenience that the issue may present for staff.

Maria Tucker
Manager – Diabetes Treatment Center
Maria Tucker is not just an outstanding Duke Raleigh Hospital employee but also an exceptional and compassionate woman. She has been consistently involved in multiple aspects of hospital activities such as the Diversity Team and her most recent creative implementation of The Amazing Race. She collaborates with multiple departments from IT to the Hospitalists. Baking cookies and showing thanks to others who assist her is just Maria’s way of showing appreciation and gratitude for the help of others.

Doug Vinsel
CEO – Duke Raleigh
Doug’s deeply entrenched value system, motivational skills, solid operational achievements and uncompromising integrity have always been easy traits to spot. Since his term as president of his senior class at Zanesville High, the “Blue Devils (ironic, isn’t it?) undefeated football season in 1968 – with All-COL honors for offensive player #66 – and Doug’s baseball team record of 24 victories which stood until 2008, he has always been out in front leading the way. Now, as then, Doug’s multi-faceted talents keep his team on a straight and quality course, while he never seeks the spotlight for himself for the many successes, preferring rather to give the accolades to his team.

Missy Wasilick
Manager – The Plaza Pharmacy
On a daily basis, Missy has demonstrated her commitment to provide outstanding patient care. She is loved by her patients and well-respected by her co-workers. Missy keeps the safety of patients and employees at the forefront of her activity. She has implemented a double-checking system before medication is dispensed. Further, she requires the pharmacy team to counsel patients on all new meds; other retail pharmacies only see that as an option. She ensures that our area is ergonomically correct to support those of us working there.

Jennifer Weyant
CN IV – 4th Floor
Jennifer Weyant works on the 4th floor where she commands the roles of Charge Nurse, preceptor and is a member of the UPC. Jennifer is a very hard worker, giving 110% each day. She is very organized, smart, and flexible. She does whatever it takes to ensure the unit runs smoothly. Once when she was in charge, she also had three patients assigned to her but she still managed to run the unit and assist the other nurses. She has a talent for dealing with difficult patients and family members. One specific incident required her to intervene with a family in which one member insisted on rollerblading in the hallway. After he became somewhat argumentative, she calmly explained that the activity was not conducive to the hospital environment, was prohibited, and called Security to remove him from the premises. Not long after, she was instrumental in getting a “panic button” placed on the floor to increase patient and employee safety.

Jacqueline Whitaker
NA I – Med/Surg
Jackie has consistently gone beyond her expected job performance to provide quality service not only to her patients but to her co-workers as well. She always exemplifies the hospital values of teamwork, respect and service. You can often find her leaving her lunch when a patient is in need. She readily goes to attend to the patient. You never hear her say “that’s not my job” but instead serves as a role model for other NAs and nurses alike. Her bubbly personality and bright smile everyday makes it a pleasure to work with her, even on the most hectic of days. Patients adore her, and staff breathe a sigh of relief when she is on the shift.