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I've known Denise around seven and a half yrs. and it’s been a pleasure to say she is a friend. She is the most compassionate and caring nurse I know. When you see her one on one with the clients, the love just beams from her face. No matter how many times we call her for the littlest things she is so very patient and concerned. If my children needed to be in a facility like Lawnview, I would feel comfortable with the medical care they are receiving. Denise demonstrates all of the above qualities, compassion, strong clinical skills, excellent communication, trust worthiness and patient advocacy.
Nominated by Lisa Good

Working with developmentally disabled adults can sometimes be a challenge, but one would never know it if they spent time with Denise Zerkle. Denise and I have worked together for the last three years. Her energy is boundless; her spirit and smile are contagious. She has the kindness and most giving heart of any nurse I have had the pleasure to work with. In our field of nursing, advocacy if of utmost importance and I have never known a stronger advocate for our individuals than Denise. She has a close personal relationship with all our individuals and their family members. Denise's strong clinical skills are also very important to the individuals we serve. Because they cannot always tell us what is going on or how they are feeling, the nurse needs to be able to rely on not only her knowledge base in nursing, but also on her gut instincts. Denise has worked hard to possess both. If our individuals were able to express how they felt, I am sure they would all be honored to tell you how deserving Denise Zerkle is of such an award.
Nominated by Cindy Anderson

Please accept this nomination for Denise Zerkle, RN who is employed at the Champaign County Board of MR/DD (Lawnview Industires) in Urbana as a facility nurse. Lawnview Industries is the Champaign County Adult Day Habilitation Center (county sheltered workshop). Denise’s duties include caring for over 100 persons with developmental disabilities with various health issues such as seizure disorders, g-tube feeding and other chronic health and behavioral needs. Denise is deserving of this honor because she does more than basic medical care. Our nurses are involved in every aspect of the lives of the people they serve. Being a nurse in a facility for people with developmental disabilities calls on the nurse to serve the person holistically. Working at a sheltered workshop is not a position for a nurse who wants a casual relationship with patients. In the course of a day, Denise may serve in many capacities. In the past few months, I have seen her attend two funerals for consumers who died; buy birthday and Christmas presents for consumers with no family; listen to consumer’s personal problems who have no one else to confide in; do preventative teaching during monthly health and safety meetings with consumers and teach staff universal precautions with a giant Trivial Pursuit game; use humor to cheer consumers and staff who often face stress on the job; advocate for consumers at semi-annual meetings; keeping staff apprised of medical conditions and reminding staff to complete needed paperwork and physicals; helping to develop and implement Behavior Support Plans; and working with teams, doctors and other agencies as our “go to person” on medical issues. These are duties many nurses perform, but our nurse is extra special because of the human element they inject into everything they do. To better illustrate how special, I have included testimonials from consumers in our Healthy Living Class telling you just how important she is to us at Lawnview Industries. The Healthy Living Class teaches how all aspects of our lives impact on all the other parts to create a healthy lifestyle. Each person in the class wanted to let you know how our nurse helps them with the class, how the nurse helps affect them personally and how she helps others. We hope you agree with the Healthy Living Class and me that Denise is an extra special nurse deserving of special recognition.

Testimonials: (from Anna, Bobby, Chris, Sandy, Jessie and Mary, our teacher)

-Bobby really enjoys the nurses talking to him and when they take him to the bus
-Denise helps Sandy everyday with her lunch. Sandy really likes the special time she takes to help her.
-Anna says, “The nurses are always nice and help me when I need it.”
-Chris gets help from the nurses keeping track of his health. “They communicate really well with my mom.”
-Jessie said they help me when I get sick. “Denise listens and talks and everything. I’m proud of her and I want her to keep working toward their goals.”
-We see the nurses greeting us at the door every day with a smile and a pleasant good morning. We see them help other people all day long. They see that people get their medicines and help feed people. When we feel sick, they check us out and help us to feel better. Our Health Living Class depends on the nurses for helping us with healthy choices. They also have let us use their clinic to do our weigh-ins for class. The nurses are very supportive and helpful. We love them very much. Our day would not be complete without them.
Nominated by John Groby