The 2020 Nurses Week theme, Year of the Nurse, honors Florence Nightingale's 200th Birthday, born on May 12, 1820.

But there are other reasons 2020 is important for nursing. The World Health Organization will release the first-ever State of the World’s Nursing Report. Nurses make up the majority of the worldwide healthcare workforce but our numbers are declining and worldwide shortages are expected.

As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the number of nursing staff that are working ‘in-person’ at our hospital and clinics. Although the theme was chosen well before the current pandemic, nurses and all healthcare workers have shown the world their dedication, resilience and compassion caring for others.

Take a moment to recognize some of the exemplary Gillette nurses, chosen by their nursing managers, who work hard to provide excellent care and support to our patients and families.

Anna Parthun

"Anna Parthun is truly an example of a nurse that puts patient safety first. Her expertise in processes, policies, and guidelines is just one of the ways that she demonstrates her commitment to our patients. Anna is compassionate and shares that with patients through her interactions. She never hesitates to take the time to sing to a patient or take those few extra minutes to make sure everything is "just right" before she leaves for the day. She is a master at developing thorough discharge plans that truly go above and beyond in ensuring success for our patients once they leave Gillette. Anna has a true mindset of patient and staff safety and has received numerous "Good Catch" awards throughout this past year, demonstrating her willingness to bring process issues forward and her expertise in recognizing "Near Misses" to help improve the environment for all of us. Her expertise as a Certified Pediatric Nurse is appreciated and she is always willing to share this knowledge through precepting new nurses. Her contributions are significant and I am proud of the work she does every day."

-Cheryl Tveit, Manager - Neurosciences Services

Rachel Boehm

"Rachel Boehm is a true example of compassion, expertise, and trust. Rachel works hard to demonstrate her expertise as a nurse in the Neurosciences Unit, able to care for our most complex patients and precept new nurses. She holds both a Certified Pediatric Nurse (CPN) and a Certified Neurosciences Registered Nurse (CNRN) designation. She has been a nurse at Gillette since 2011. Rachel is a trusted colleague and has the big responsibility of helping with our nursing schedule. She balances the demands of this challenge with compassion, empathy, and professionalism towards staff. In 2019, she stepped in as an interim day charge nurse on the Neurosciences unit for 3 months. During this time, she utilized her already built trusted relationships with nurses, providers, and others in the organization to uphold high standards and keep our patients safe. Her dedication, positive attitude and collaboration are evident in all the work she does at Gillette. I am grateful to have Rachel on my team." 

-Cheryl Tveit, Manager - Neurosciences Services

Sherry Palfalvi

"Sherry Palfalvi consistently goes above and beyond to provide a superior level of care to our patients and their families and give them what they need. Sherry really exemplifies providing the high level of care we pride ourselves in – she prioritizes the little touches others may overlook, and as an example, within the last year, she came in on her day off to wash the hair of a patient who was at the end of her life. She truly cares about our entire team, and goes out of her way to recognize her peers’ individual contributions – she’s like a mom to all of us and makes sure we’re all taken care of."  

-Susannah Humpal, Interim Manager - PICU/Respiratory Care

Michaela Geffre

"I would like to recognize Michaela Geffre for her leadership with the Neuromuscular Team. Michaela started at the Phalen Adult clinic over six years ago. We have seen her grow professionally from LPN to RN, to BSN, and then also advance to Clinical Level II. She has championed the Neuromuscular program as the Adult Neuromuscular coordinator. She actively partners with the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy to enhance the unique needs of our patients. During the conversion from in-person clinic visits to video virtual, Michaela created the workflows to lead the pediatric and adults providers to practice using Teams with fictitious patients so they were prepared for the coordinated neuromuscular clinics in the virtual environment. These visits were found to be exceptionally beneficial for stay connected with our high-risk patients. Providers voiced high praise for Michaela’s leadership. This is only one of many activities Michaela has demonstrated as a leader in nursing." 

-Kim Marben, Outpatient Supervisor

Sandee Mares-Torres

"I would like to recognize Sandee Mares-Torres for her work with the Pediatric Complex Care team. Sandee is a certified medical assistant working at the Phalen Peds clinic for the past 18 months. She supports three pediatricians and three nurse practitioners in the complex care and PrePARE clinic at Phalen Peds. Sandee is a member of the Complex Care committee, she seeks to implement strategies to continuously improve services, and partners with the nursing complex care managers. Her role has been key as we have evolved from in-person to virtual clinic visits. An essential service in preparing our complex patients for surgery is a review of the patient's active medications. Sandee worked with providers and pharmacy to create a coordinate visit in Teams so that the pharmacist can participate in the virtual visit to reconcile the medication list. Together they created the workflow that is being used in Teams to capture this important medical information in Cerner. Sandee’s demonstrated leadership in improving the care for our very vulnerable patients."

-Kim Marben, Outpatient Supervisor

Rebecca Pierce

"I would recognize Rebecca Pierce as a “shining star”. She is our Cerner ACE and has been a very active member, working toward several enhancements for the Telehealth team. She is also working on a huge project with the development of decision support tools through Clear Triage. She has to essentially build these protocols from scratch, and she works very closely with providers and leadership to ensure that she is designing a robust tool that is evidence-based and fits our patient population's needs and concerns." 

-Pace Pfenning, Manager - Metro Clinics and Telehealth

Alison Dahl

"Alison Dahl, the HUC/NA in Minnetonka. She is simply fabulous. Whatever needs doing, Alison will do it.  She helps with everything from A to Z! She stocks rooms, orders supplies, offers technical support, tracks records, prep charts, gets ht/wt/vs for patients, and on and on…..she is loved by all who work with her. I have been asked many times if it is possible to clone her!"  

-Pace Pfenning, Manager - Metro Clinics and Telehealth

Patricia Kallevig

"Patricia Kallevig should be recognized for her tireless energy and positive attitude toward precepting new staff in the department. She has oriented several new nurses over the past 2 years and has always been willing to help train. She is very welcoming to these staff and is always approachable and professional. We appreciate her!" 

-Pace Pfenning, Manager - Metro Clinics and Telehealth

Nick Welisevich

"Nick Welisevich joined our outpatient team as a Nursing Assistant [on-call] in August 2019 as he finished his last semester in nursing. He graduated in early 2020 and has joined our outpatient Ortho team in an RN position. He is a wonderful nurse, an eager learner, a strong team member and a skilled advocate. We are so lucky to have him at Gillette." 

-Katherine Houle, Manager - Perianesthesia

Kristin Gallagher

"Kristin Gallagher has been a skilled and strong leader for the entire outpatient team during a time of change and uncertainty. She has worked diligently to help her team transition to a ‘teams’ model, on-board a new staffing coordinator and education specialist and she has worked with me as the interim manager. She is a skilled leader, a strong advocate, a creative thinker, and a wonderful nurse!"

-Katherine Houle, Manager - Perianesthesia

Joel Dickey

"Joel Dickey has taken on a huge role in the re-visioning of Governance at Gillette. He has helped advocate, create, and lead the nursing team to this new model and vision for Governance. He is a strong leader, a compassionate nurse, a powerful advocate, and a true patient and family favorite. He represents Gillette, Governance, and the PeriAnesthesia team so well!"

-Katherine Houle, Manager - Perianesthesia

Amy Husome

"Amy Husome's ongoing commitment and dedication to our Gillette patients is clear. She is compassionate with our patients, their caregivers, and her peers alike. Amy’s knowledge of our patient population shows in her interactions and she is often sought out as a content expert. In times when things get challenging, Amy is a calm in the storm and is able to build a trusting relationship with her patients and families, ensuring the best outcomes."

-Traci Herman-Rappe, Manager - Orthopedic/Surgical Unit