A weeklong celebration at Cedar Park Regional Medical Center for National Nurses week wrapped up when staff honored nurse Joni Ramirez with the hospital’s first ever Patients’ Choice award May 12.
Ramirez is a registered nurse who works in the medical/surgical unit on the night shift. With more than 24 years of experience, she joined the hospital in March 2009.
CPRMC Chief Executive Officer Tim Adams recognized Ramirez for her nursing care during a breakfast reception for the 13 nurses nominated for the award.
The care offered by Ramirez “goes above and beyond her clinical experience to deliver extraordinary care for all of her patients,” Adams said.
Over the last few months, patients nominated nurses in all departments for the award.
Sharon Wolfe nominated Ramirez after her surgery and hospital stay last summer.
“I had been in pain all day,” she said. “When (Ramirez) walked in, immediately the room lit up. She was marvelous; everything was better.”
Last week, when the two met again, Ramirez didn’t immediately recognize Wolfe by sight.
“What was your diagnosis?” Ramirez asked Wolfe during the breakfast in the hospital’s administration’s conference room decorated with vases of fresh, red roses.
Recognition dawned as Wolfe reminded her.
“We know them by diagnosis,” Ramirez said, smiling, as the other nominated nurses looked on, nodding in agreement. “People look different standing up.”
When she’s not at work, Ramirez said she loves spending time with family, especially her twin nieces, and saving money for her family’s next big trip to London in two years for the Summer Olympics.
It will not be the family’s first trip to the Olympics; they enjoyed the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Ramirez said she wasn’t aware of the Patients’ Choice award program before she received the honor.
While Patients’ Choice Awards is a staple of other hospitals under ownership by the Community Health System, this is the first time CPRMC has initiated the program. It is one facet of change brought by the new hospital’s leadership.
Jessica Kiehle, who began working at CPRMC April 20 as the interim chief nursing officer, said the administration is changing the dynamics of its nursing team. A permanent chief nursing officer, Cindy Henning, has already been hired and will begin June 1, she said.
But Keihle is not taking a short-timer’s approach to the job.
“We want to create an atmosphere of teamwork so they (nurses) feel like they’re nurtured and cared for,” she said.
Ramirez said the award program, and visits by Kiehle and Adams throughout the hospital, even during the night shifts, make a difference.
“(The administration has) more visualization on the floor now,” she said, which increases feedback for the nurses. “And to get it face-to-face is even better,” she added.
Following National Nurses Week, the hospital spent the next week celebrating National Hospital Week with potlucks, ice cream and barbecue dinners, Adams said.
“We want to create an environment where people like working and build an atmosphere of appreciation,” he said.
Patients may nominate nurses for the Patient’s Choice award year-round by e-mailing Cathie_Sierega@cedarparkregional.com.