Nurse Activists in Colorado
The three Value Care RNs on
Governor Ritter's Task Force collectively have more than 50 years experience in bedside nursing. These women advocate for better working conditions for bedside
nurses, helping improve the quality of care for our patients and for our profession.
View the Governor's executive order establishing the Task Force
Patty Stewart, RN
Patty is a senior staff nurse with 14 years of experience in Surgical Intensive Care Unit
(SICU).She is currently providing care at a large hospital in Colorado. As a member of the Governor's Task Force, she is a committed patient and nurse advocate in her community. Below are just a few of Patty's specialties:
Implements
the nursing process for well-balanced care of the acutely ill patient suffering
from trauma, surgical or medical crisis.
Independently
manages, coordinates and delegates complex care, procedures, medications and
interventions for the acutely-ill patient.
Extensive
background in caring for complex surgical and medical patients
Experienced
in constructing and implementing strategies to improve patient outcomes and
nursing job satisfaction: Collaborative
Practice Task Force, Multidisciplinary Rounds, and Nursing Liaison Program.
Judith Hutchinson, RN
Judith has been an active member of Value Care, Value Nurses since 2006, and a steering committee member since 2007. She graduated from the Presbyterian
School of Nursing,
Denver, CO as Registered Nurse in 1978.
She has been an orthopedics staff nurse in Denver since 1998.She also teaches at Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, Colorado, for their C.N.A. certification program.
Judith has worked in home care settings, and as a float nurse. This year, she was appointed by Governor Ritter to represent bedside nurses on the Nurse
Work Force and Patient Care Taskforce
Bernie Patterson, RN
Bernie was appointed co-chair of the Governor's Nurse
Work Force and Patient Care Taskforce, along with a Colorado Hospital Association nurse. She has become a bit of a nurse celebrity in Colorado, as the only RN to be honored as a finalist in the 2007 Denver Business Journal Healthcare Awards.
Bernie currently works in the Ambulatory Surgery Unit at a major Colorado hospital, where she's been providing care since June 2005. Among other tasks, Bernie prepares patients for same-day surgeries, pain management patients and minor procedures. She has excellent IV skills, is a good communicator and a dedicated patient advocate.
Bernie began her career in healthcare in 1979 as a nurse aide and LPN.