Joyce Huisman is now a retired nurse.But in her almost 30 years of service to the Orange City Area Health System, she has been an exemplary nurse.She showed commitment to her colleagues in working every hour of the day when we most needed her.She taught me how to place midlines and PICC's and was extremely patient with me as I learned the skill.Joyce hardly complained about the job that needed to be done.She was our "go to" nurse when we didn't have the answers.She is resourceful, knowledgeable, patient, caring and had the servant-like attitude every day she came to work.
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Joyce Huisman is an extraordinary nurse.She has been my mentor for the past twelve years.She has always been willing to go the extra mile for her patients and team members.One specific example was how willing Joyce always was to come in at 3am to help us when we are short staffed with nurses.Another specific example was when Joyce was always willing to care for the first admit.Joyce was always willing to help you if you needed help with a patient.I am blessed to have worked with Joyce and she is an extraordinary nurse.
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I worked with Joyce in oral surgery one day.We had a really nervous and anxious patient.She was so calm and caring with the patient.She explained everything so clearly and simply to the patient about what she would be doing and what the doctor would be doing as he pulled her tooth.The patient was fidgeting during the start of the procedure so she just leaned over and took both the patient's hands into hers and held on to them during the whole procedure.She even wiped her tears as the patient was crying.The patient afterward thanked Joyce and said she helped her so much by just talking to her to calm her down and by holding her hands during the procedure.This is such a great example of who Joyce is and what makes her an extraordinary nurse.
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Joyce Huisman was an exemplary nurse and mentor to every nurse that crossed her path, including me.I started with Orange City Area Health System as a fairly new nurse.If there was a nurse I wanted to model my practice after, it was Joyce Huisman.I worked side by side with her through many situations over the years.She has excellent critical thinking skills, was a resource of knowledge to all but most of all she was a patient advocate.She was always willing to work extra hours when the hospital was in need.She was able to work ER, Med/Surg, Labor & Delivery and Post-Partum.She also stepped up and offered to help in the surgery recovery room if they were having an especially busy day.Joyce was always the first to step up and offer to take new admits or help other nurses with discharges, admits or procedures. She is now recently retired but we were blessed to have her working here for almost 30 years.