Joyce Kramp is constantly looking for new ways to improve care or support her colleagues.
Joyce's determined approach along with her kind and gentle nature all contributed to her becoming the latest recipient of Grand River Hospital’s employee award of excellence.
Joyce has worked at GRH since 1996. She has provided support in a number of programs. Joyce is now a clinical assistant in GRH’s very busy medical surgery day unit.
Joyce’s nominator recognized her for meeting this hospital’s values in the following ways:
Compassion: Joyce has a compassionate nature. She helps to organize clinics so that patients with unique needs are quickly and compassionately cared for. She brings forward ideas to improve care and readily accepts additional work. She is a strong patient advocate and looks for ways to improve their hospital experience.
Collaboration: Joyce has exceptional intuition regarding work that needs to be done. She knows how best to accomplish it and does so before being asked! She sees when another unit is exceptionally busy and steps in to do whatever she can to help.
Colleagues comment that it is like having two people when Joyce is working! Yet she does it without flurry or chaos; she always looks relaxed. Joyce is patient focused, keeping units running efficiently and smoothly. She is unfailingly kind and gentle. Joyce has wonderful mentorship abilities, training new staff effectively.
Positive attitude: If and when a unit Joyce works in was struggling with adequate staff coverage, she has taken the initiative to incorporate more work into her routine while creating additional efficiencies in the unit. She has simply changed process and as a result, the work has continued seamlessly. Joyce has a ‘can-do’ attitude and it is contagious!
Professionalism: In one situation, Joyce dealt with some concern when a unit secretary could not be replaced. She assessed the situation and said, “We can make this work.” She changed the flow so that the work could continue.
When Joyce identifies a challenge, she also comes with ideas for solutions. When a co-worker was off work and could not be replaced, Joyce calmly took on an extra workload, moved between units to see where the need was greatest and simply did the work.
She has the ability to see the whole picture. She knows how to prioritize, keep patients safe and best support the team she works with.
Respect: when there is a patient with unique needs, Joyce is their advocate. She sees every patient as a whole person requiring care.
Her nominator added, “Joyce goes out of her way to show appreciation to others—often delivering a single rose to a colleague or voicing appreciation for another. She works quietly but has a huge impact on any unit she is working on.”
Thank you Joyce for your years of care and compassion!