Editor’s Note: As medical professionals across our region and around the world continue to battle COVID-19, we will occasionally profile the folks on the front lines caring for patients. The following profile was submitted by Ballad Health.
Alison Johnson, RN, Director of Critical Care at Johnson City Medical Center, is the epitome of what a nurse should be. When nurses enter our hospitals, they enter into a world of unknown challenges; both physical and emotional as they care for both patients and peers. This type of giving is particularly intense, as often nurses do not receive anything in return. Alison willingly and selflessly does this every day. She is always willing to step up and step in, and has never lost her passion for direct patient care. She is always available to listen and offer support. She is a true leader; helping to guide decisions without making anyone feel “less than.” She would never ask anyone to do what she wouldn’t do herself.
Like Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, Alison is leading our nursing team in caring for COVID-19 patients during this pandemic. She has coordinated care efforts, care models and ensures our patients get the most current evidence-based treatments. Alison has led our nursing team in conjunction with our total care team to ensure how we care for our patients during this pandemic is the best possible. She works tirelessly; and you will find her on the floor at all hours, serving as a caregiver, a leader, a teacher and a mentor. She spends time with concerned families who can’t visit their loved ones, and has arranged for end-of-life-circumstances in the most meaningful way possible.
She deserves so much for all she has done in preparing and helping us with COVID-19 preparation and implementation. Put most simply; she spends her life caring for others. Alison Johnson is truly a pioneer in these uncertain times, and we thank her for her important work as we navigate caring for patients during the coronavirus epidemic.
