Local Nurse Honored With State Award

By Jeff Gulley

LuElla Weems, the evening charge nurse at Vintage Park of Osawatomie, was recently honored by the Kansas Centers for Assisted Living (KCAL) with the Nurse of the Year award.

“I was quite surprised when Shonna (Looney) told me about the award and quite pleased,” she said.

The award was presented earlier this year but two weeks ago, she was invited to a reception with Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson.

“At first I wasn’t going to go but then I thought getting that picture taken with the governor was something that I could show to my grandkids,” Weems said.

Looney, Vintage Park director, nominated Weems for the award.

“Lu pays close attention to details and knows each resident well,” Looney said. “Lu is loved and respected by her co-workers and residents. Family members rave about Lu and how she meets their concerns and needs. Lu always has a story and smile to share with everyone. We are very proud that LuElla is the recipient of this award.”

Weems has worked at Vintage Park as the evening charge nurse since 2007. Prior to that she worked as the administrator for a long-term care facility before going back to receive her LPN license.

As a young girl, Weems remembered helping to take care of her grandma and then being farmed out to help her grandma’s friends.

“I guess you could say I have always been involved in geriatric care,” she said.

Weems said working at Vintage Park has been a pleasure.

“It’s so nice to get up and go to work at a place where you are appreciated for what you do,” Weems said. “The staff and the residents are great. Being a nurse you can kind of pick and choose where you work, but we have quality people here and an administration that is supportive.”

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Posted by admin on Dec 1 2010. Filed under News and Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry