Barbara’s calm demeanor during a difficult patient interaction and her support of new colleagues led to her nomination for the Colleague of the Month award. Barbara supported both Memorial Health Security and Springfield Clinic to address a patient’s behavior. She safely de-escalated the unsafe behavior, allowing a safe environment to be maintained for patients, visitors, colleagues and physicians.

“I was in awe of how Barbara worked with the patient,” wrote her nominator. “She remained calm and focused. She listened and showed both empathy and compassion. By the end of the two-hour conversation, the patient had moved from yelling and anger to smiling and laughing. The way she conducted herself put the patient at ease as well as those working with her to reach a successful outcome.”

Barbara hopes to help develop mobile crisis services to support rural communities in the future. She is active in the community and enjoys anime, comic books and science fiction with her son. She is also a talented baker.