NURSE OF THE YEAR

Barb Rozenboom

Barb is a very good WOC clinician, and is a great resource to staff.  She attends conferences as much as possible to further her own knowledge.  Barb attended NIWI to further her knowledge of the government.  Barb is involved in WOCN Society by serving for the Iowa Affiliate as Secretary. She identified a need for us to know each other better and worked very hard to develop a directory for the Iowa Affiliate.  Barb has served for our National WOCN Society by serving on the Marketing Committee. Barb is currently active serving as our Iowa Affiliate President Elect. As President Elect, she has taken on the duties of organizing the Fall conference speakers, and was in charge of the Iowa Ostomy Day in the Spring. Barb is very organized and dependable in these activities.  Barb has joined the Des Moines Area Ostomy Networking Group and has  given several presentations for the ostomates and their families. Barb has developed and given several presentations for staff at her agencies.  She is a good educator. Barb is open to new ideas regarding patient care products and technology. She is a great resource for WOC information.  Barb is extremely organized, and is fun to work with. She has a delightful sense of humor. She is always ready to do the work that needs  to be done. Barb has good rapport with patients and doctors and  colleagues. Barb really strives to provide the best care for her patients by educating herself, educating other staff, and bringing her positive attitude to work every day!       

If I were to sum up a perfect ostomy nurse, it would be Barb Rozenboom.  I have actually known Barb for many years.  We graduated from the same high school.  We both grew up in a small town, and I think that is probably where Barb learned a lot of her compassion.  In small towns people tend to get to know each other on a personal level. That is how I feel Barb treats her patients, with compassion and kindness.        

I remember the time I was contemplating having an ostomy, I hadn’t spoken to Barb in years, but I called her up one day out of the blue to talk to her about it.  She answered all of my questions and then even put me in touch with a couple local ostomates which was a huge help!  I ended up meeting the two of them for lunch and it really eased my mind to actually see a person with an ostomy.  I had this dreadful picture of people with ostomies and to my surprise, I found out we are all just as normal as the average person, with just a little different plumbing.  Anyway, I would say Barb went above and beyond the call of duty for me, and this really helped me make my decision a decision I will never regret.  I know she would do this for anyone else who had questions or any other problem.  She is a great nurse, and I feel the ostomy world is a little better place with Barb as one of our ostomy nurses!