UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 32, Page 8
May 19, 1994
Delaware grad named 1994 Nurse of the Year

     When Linda Laskowski Jones was in the ninth grade, she volunteered at
the St. Francis Hospital emergency room, loved it and decided nursing was
the career for her.
     Now a trauma clinical nurse specialist and trauma clinical coordinator
at the Medical Center of Delaware, Jones, who holds bachelor's ('83) and
master's ('87) degrees in nursing from Delaware, has received two recent
recognitions for outstanding service to her profession.
     Last month, she was named Nurse of the Year by the Delaware Nurses
Association and, earlier this month, she received an excellence-in-nursing
award as a nurse educator from the medical center.
     Jones, who serves on the Delaware Board of Nursing, received a
Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement from the University last
spring.
     At the medical center, Jones carries out two important
responsibilities. As coordinator and trauma team nurse, she serves on the
front line of patient care. In the community, she also serves as an
educator in trauma prevention.
     Trauma means bodily injury, Jones explained. The majority of trauma
patients are victims of automobile crashes, but may also be victims of
shootings, knifings or accidents on the job, at home or in other settings.
     Jones works in tandem with emergency room staff when trauma victims
arrive. The trauma team is usually notified when patients are in transit,
and the team is at the ready to carry out whatever procedures or surgery
are needed.
     The job of the trauma team does not end there, Jones said. The team
follows up on trauma victims' care from hospital admission to discharge and
arranges subsequent rehabilitation and care when appropriate.
     "We take a holistic approach to patient care. We see that patients
start rehabilitation and arrange for care after the hospital. If a trauma
patient has a drug or alcohol problem, we address that and don't simply
discharge them," Jones said.
     As coordinator of the trauma team, Jones has to ensure that the levels
of trauma care meet high standards, and that policies and protocols are in
place and carried out. As a clinical nurse specialist, she administers
hands-on care to patients.
     The other part of Jones' job is as an educator and speaker about
trauma care and trauma prevention at schools and community organizations.
     Her presentations are tailored to the age group, stressing basic
safety and trauma prevention to small children and giving teenagers more
graphic descriptions about the consequences of unsafe driving and, in
particular, driving after drinking.
      She also teaches professionals about critical and trauma care. She
teaches critical care at the Veterans' Hospital as a consultant, for
graduate nurse interns at the medical center and lectures in the
undergraduate and graduate nursing programs at the University.
     Jones is married to Larry Jones, Delaware '81, who works for the
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. They
met while undergraduates as ambulance volunteers.
     The couple enjoys hiking, backpacking and camping. When winter
arrives, they take to the slopes for skiing. It is something of a busman's
holiday, however. They both are on a patrol, and Linda is often called upon
to use her emergency care skills for injured skiers on mountain trails.
Larry does the heavy work of transporting them on sleds to the first aid
station  below.
                                                  -Sue Swyers Moncure