The Woodford County Board of Health is seeking nominations for the next Public Health Award recipient.

EUREKA

Advocate Eureka nurse is honored for patient care, leadership

In the more than six years that Joy Jirousek has worked as a nurse at Advocate Eureka Hospital, she has earned a reputation of being a compassionate caregiver and an exceptional resource and leader to her fellow nurses. Because she embodies Advocate Health Care’s core nursing values, Jirousek was recognized a winner of The Advocate Nurse Award.

Jirousek and 15 other winning nurses will be recognized by Advocate’s executive leaders in a system-wide celebration in April at the health system’s Downers Grove headquarters.

Jirousek, who lives in Eureka, is an operating room nurse at Eureka Hospital. A peer who nominated her wrote that Jirousek “…displays great leadership skills by empowering the staff in which she guides. She listens, she is open to diverse dialog and supportive of others. She uses humor appropriately to lighten the moment but remains professional and steadfast in guiding nurses to do their best and follow best practice guidelines… She displays a calm and professional attitude…  She is respectful of patients and staff and collaborates well with all departments.”

Nominations were submitted by physicians and associates, including many non-nursing associates. These nominations were vetted and presented in blinded format to site-based review committees who scored each according to a metric that took into account each nominee’s passion for patient care, commitment to service, problem-solving abilities and leadership aptitude.

The winners are nurses from a variety of specialties across the patient care continuum who represent diversity in their backgrounds and experiences; some are veteran nurses with more than 30 years of experience while others are relatively new to Advocate or to the nursing profession.

Professor will talk about his love of writing

Loren Logsdon has had a successful career as a professor at Eureka College and Western Illinois University. But one of the joys of Logsdon’s life is writing short stories. For several years, one of his witty stories was published in the Woodford County News Bulletin every week.

He will talk about his life as a professor and author when he is the guest speaker at the March 9 meeting of the Woodford County Historical Society. He also will talk about his several publications. His most recent book is “The Moon Was Big and Yellow and I Was a Little Chicken Myself, A Collection of Postmodern Folk Tales Deconstructed and Reconstituted.” It is a rich source of humor. Logsdon will have some books with him for purchase and signing.

The free meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Gathering Place at Maple Lawn Homes, 116 S. Clinton, Eureka. Call Karen Fyke at (309) 360-6772 for directions. Refreshments will be served.

COUNTY

Annual public health award nominations available

The Woodford County Board of Health is seeking nominations for the next Public Health Award recipient. Do you know someone who has dedicated his or her time to help improve the health and well-being of our community? Maybe this person was a volunteer at one of the health department’s many drills, clinics or programs. Maybe it was an employee who went above and beyond to help others in the community. In doing so, describe your nominee’s participation in public health, and the reason this person should be selected for the Public Health Award. Nominees may include agencies, groups, individuals, media or organizations whose contributions to Woodford County have improved the public’s health.

Information needed includes nominee name, home address, phone number and email address; his or her employer name and occupation.

Applications are also available online at woodfordhealth.org. Nominations must be received by March 16, and may be submitted by hard copy to the Woodford County Health Department, 1831 S. Main St., Eureka 61530. An electronic nomination may be submitted to haggertt@woodford-county.org.

A narrative describing the contributions of the nominee should be no longer than three pages.

–Woodford County News Briefs–