Contact: Sara Quale
sara.quale@bannerhealth.com
(970) 810-6133
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (April 2, 2019) – One nurse has spent 37 years pursuing the best cancer care for Northern Colorado. The other travels an eight-state region teaching others the difficult task of life support for critically burned individuals and providing that care to patients in Greeley. Together, they represent some of the best work local nursing has to offer.
Two Banner Health nurses are candidates for the Colorado Nightingale Luminary Awards to be presented May 11 in Denver.
The Nightingale Awards honor nurses who best exemplify the philosophy and practice of Florence Nightingale, a 19th century nursing pioneer who epitomized the art of helping people toward their best health.
The honorees are Julianne Fritz and Rebecca Garber.
Fritz serves as the regional director of oncology for Banner Health in Northern Colorado. A native of the area, she has been a nurse for 37 years.
During her career, Fritz aimed to bring the highest level of cancer care to residents of Northern Colorado. In August 2018, she helped launch Banner MD Anderson Cancer Centers at North Colorado Medical Center and McKee Medical Center. In addition, Fritz helped recruit additional board-certified oncology specialists in the areas of surgery, gynecology and genetic counseling. Her leadership brought together a team of experts from many disciplines to create a coordinated, high-quality cancer care program.
“Over the course of almost a decade, Julianne has tirelessly and selflessly led an ever-evolving team to enhance the quality of the program offered by Banner Health to meet the rigorous standards set by MD Anderson,” said her nominator, Stephanie Drobny, RN.
Garber is a nurse practitioner at Banner Health’s Western States Burn Center at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley. She has been a nurse for 17 years in the management of acute critical, non-critical and outpatient burn care. In addition to providing patient care, Garber is a presenter at the national meetings for the American Burn Association and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners related to burn management topics. She teaches advanced burn life support classes to first responders and other providers in the eight-state region that the burn center covers.
“Her dedication to advance quality, compassion and competency in burn care is unparalleled,” said her nominator, Carrie Brunson, director of professional practice for Banner Health.
Garber has taught more than 70 advanced burn life support courses and given more than 225 lectures on burn-related topics. She also helps facilitate grant support for participants to attend a Burn Camp for children and World Burn Congress for adults, which are invaluable resources for emotional and physical recovery. The Burn Support Group at NCMC has grown through Garber’s direction.
Banner Health leaders organized a special event March 23 to recognize 12 nurses from Banner Fort Collins Medical Center, McKee Medical Center in Loveland and North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley who were nominated for the local Nightingale recognitions.
The other nominees were:
- Heather Martinez, DNP
- Amy Bolen, RN, Women and Infant Services
- Kristine Staszak, RN, medical clinic
- Julie Rojas, RN, SANE Coordinator
- Noelle Wilcox, RN, MPH, Infection Prevention
- Melissa Webb, RN
- Shelbie Radom, RN, Lactation Consultant
- Seth Dunn, RN Clinical Informatics Coordinator
- Robyn Atadero, RN, MPH, Emergency Department, Wound Care senior manager
- Jody Gabaldon, RN, Wound, ostomy and continence
About Banner Health
Headquartered in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country. The system owns and operates 28 acute-care hospitals, Banner Health Network, Banner – University Medicine, academic and employed physician groups, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of other services; including Banner Urgent Care, family clinics, home care and hospice services, pharmacies and a nursing registry. Banner Health is in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com.