Laura Bandstra
Oak Valley Health
Markham Stouffville Hospital
When I heard about the nursing hero awards, without a doubt, I thought of Laura. She is one of those people who you can always count on. She is the first to volunteer and to step up to help her colleagues and her team.
She has worked at Oak Valley Health’s Markham Stouffville Hospital since 1998 – 24 years in the operating room (OR). Throughout her time at the hospital, she has been the urology surgery resource nurse for more than 10 years and volunteered to become the Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) lead, resource and mentor for the OR. Working with TGLN she has been involved with many donor cases over the years, which is almost exclusively in the middle of the night or on the weekend, lasting several hours. But, in Laura’s usual fashion, she always has a smile on her face and is truly happy to be helping others.
She represents the voice of the patient during high-intensity situations in the OR, ensuring physicians and nurses have the patient’s perspective in mind, and helps mitigate any type of risk.
The past two years of the pandemic have been a challenge for everyone. With each wave, people were more tired, more worn out and, at times, more hopeless. But not Laura, during wave two, three and four she volunteered to be redeployed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Although the ICU was a department Laura was not familiar with, having always worked in the surgical department, she learned the ins and outs and became extremely helpful in providing very compassionate patient care. Laura is a very well-rounded, skilled nurse and was able to overcome many difficult situations. She has become a mentor to all OR nurses, especially new staff, helping them navigate difficult, complex cases.
Laura continues to volunteer in the ICU and she always does it with a smile on her face, even when she’s had a tough day, she always tries to make it positive for everyone around her. She does this on top of her regular OR shifts, during mostly night shifts or on the weekend – with a smile, a laugh and no hesitation!
She is very empathetic and always a kind and keen listener. She is the first one to volunteer and her can-do attitude is inspirational to all in her profession as well as her personal life. She willingly will do a double shift to help out the ICU as required.
Although this nomination isn’t about one specific event, rather its about 24 years at Oak Valley Health where she has consistently gone above and beyond to provide our patients with an extraordinary care experience, supporting her team and other departments, provide leadership to those who need guidance and always putting the patient first in everything she does.
I can say with confidence that all of her colleagues, including myself, feel Laura is deserving of this award and so much more!
Nominated by Firouzeh Payami, Patient Care Manager