After Laura received her Masters degree at the UCSF School of Nursing in 1987, she was given the chance to work in Cardiology by Dr. Nelson Schiller. She felt very fortunate to be the first nurse to work in Echocardiography. She also completed her Ph.D. in Nursing in 1997 and planned to work in research. However, because of her passion in working with patients, she decided to take a clinical position. And so 10 years after, here she is, still providing quality care to patients and still enjoying it.
What she find most fulfilling during her 20 years tenure in Cardiology is the privilege of working with physicians and colleagues who work hard to provide the best for the patients who come to UCSF. She is proud of all she has learned in what she calls "the stimulating environment of UCSF". When asked about a recent success, she mentioned being able to help an outwardly angry patient come to terms with her chronic condition and helping her to understand her treatment plan. As her nominator describes her, "she is a nurse to which all nurses should compare themselves to. She is the go-to gal in the Interventional Cardiology division, and truly an asset to Cardiology".
When asked why she was chosen for this recognition, she simply says "I continue to value the contributions of every member that works with me towards the goal of providing optimal patient care".
Adina has been with the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies of the Department of Medicine for more than 2 years now. Prior to working for CAPS, she worked as a Staff Research Associate with the Osher Center for almost a year. In addition to her work responsibilities, she is currently working towards her Ph.D. in East/West Psychology. One of her contribution to CAPS is the recent success in the construction of database which she helped master and build. The access database is used to tracking participant’s information, pertaining to points of contact with the study and regarding recruitment data.
According to her nominator, "she always demonstrates compassion, extreme diligence and devotion to their study but to the cause of HIV prevention" and adds, "she is a patient, hardworking woman who I believe strongly deserves to be acknowledged". As one of her co-worker notes, "she never says no to anyone who is in need. She has spent much of her time at CAPS helping others, not only our participants but staff members who don't have basic computer skills". Adina finds fulfillment in helping people and being there for them in times of need. She clearly wants to make a difference.
Wanda has been working at the Orthodics and Prosthetics unit of the Orthopaedic Surgery for almost 9 years. She provides service with in-patient and out-patient care. As a breast cancer survivor herself, she is also a registered mastectomy sitter wherein she provides support to breast cancer survivors. She formed a newly created community based UCSF Amputee Support Group which she is very proud of. She was able to encourage staff to volunteer their time without being paid to help with the success of the support group. As she puts it, everybody is a contributing factor. It has been seven months now since they started the support group and they are still growing. Wanda truly believes in patient care and helping someone. Her philosophy is "we should provide the best we can provide". She has a very positive outlook in life.
In addition to her professional role, she is like a mother to everyone. She motivates and encourages staff and patients to reach for higher standards in life. Her nominator describes her as someone who unselfishly gives herself and "we love her!". Her supervisor is highly supportive of Wanda and added that "she goes above and beyond her duties to have a positive and caring atmosphere".
For over 15 years now, Shirley Yuen has been working with UCSF as an Analyst. She joined the Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in March 2006. Shirley manages the K12 program wherein she mentored clinical research program for the junior faculty. She is particularly proud of her contributions towards the success of Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) training program. In the wake of the NIH CTSI award to UCSF in October 2006, into which the K12 program was subsumed, Shirley has done an outstanding job of overseeing an unusually difficult transition from existing structures to the new one. She has worked with administrators across departments and schools to complete complicated funding transitions for approximately 30 academic personnel. She worked closely with the Controller's Office to correct system-caused glitches in an extremely timely fashion. She has worked directly with the 17 K12 scholars themselves to help them re-structure their research and travel budgets under the new CTSI funding structure.
Her nominator describes her as "an excellent communicator and has a very clear vision about the fiscal aspects of a large and complex program. Her level of service to UCSF has resulted in a seamless transition for the training program that she serves. Her attention to detail has been nothing short of astonishing in light of the sheer number of detailed transactions and the timeframe in which she has resolved problematic issues." She describes herself as the type of person who figures-out things by herself in order to make it easier for the people she works with.
What she finds most fulfilling about her job is her working relationship with the administrative staff who has been very helpful, supportive and well experienced staff. She considers all of them instrumental in her success at her job.
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