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Member News
Tribute to Joe Ann Conrades at her retirement party
March 25, 2010
US Census Bureau, Suitland,
MD
from MWAOHN Secretary, Barbara Hayden, RN, COHN-S
Hello, Everyone. My
name is Barbara Hayden, and I am the Secretary of the board of the Metropolitan
Washington Association of Occupational Health Nurses. I will only take a minute
to give Joe Ann a short tribute - I know we all want to get to those delicious
looking cupcakes in the back.
Based on everything you heard here today about Joe Ann's
accomplishments at Census, you would thing she would go home and have a nice
rest in the evenings.
But NOooooo - not Joe
Ann Conrades!
Many an evening she joined her professional colleagues for
dinner meetings where she could network with nurses outside of the Census
Bureau and hear lectures on occupational health topics. Sometimes these
meetings were all day on a Saturday, or 3 day national meetings that took her
out of town.
You would also think that regular attendance at the meetings
of her professional association - the sacrifice of evenings, Saturdays, and out
of town trips - would be enough support
of the profession she loved.
But NOoooo, not for
Joe Ann Conrades!
Joe Ann served on the MWAOHN board, on committees, as an
officer of the board, and as a meeting planner for local and regional
conferences. Not just now and then but steadily
for 20 years !!! This took a lot
of time and work.
Why did Joe Ann do all of this? Because she wanted to keep
learning, and to help other nurses learn, so that the field of Occupational
Health Nursing could serve you, our employees, better. Joe Ann has dedicated
herself to bringing best practices and state of the art nursing care to her
employees. Joe Ann has dedicated herself to empowering her colleagues, inside
and outside of Census, to do the same.
The Metropolitan Washington Association of Occupational
Health Nurses gave Joe Ann our President's Award this year in recognition of
her many sacrifices on our behalf, and on behalf ofthe employees she has served for many a year.
On the occasion of your retirement, Joe Ann, we salute you
and hold you up as a model for all of us to follow. Thank-you, Joe Ann!
Joe Ann Conrades
Joe Ann Conrades Honored
Joe Ann Conrades, MWAOHN member, was honored for her
long-time service to AAOHN and MWAOHN at the Dinner Meeting on
Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Joe Ann has supported this organization for
her entire career in occupational health nursing - 25 years!
Joe Ann has served many roles in MWAOHN. Currently she is Chair of the
Planning Committee, putting in tireless dedication to the details of
taking reservations, ordering dinners, keeping track of payments,
setting up the meeting room, the buffet, and greeting each person as
they arrive. She has also served as Vice-President and Secretary.
Joe Ann has had a distinguished career in occupational health nursing.
She began working at the U.S. Census Bureau in 1986 where she assumed
responsibility for directing all nursing services and managing the
overall administration of the Census Bureau's occupational health
program. Within 5 years of joining the Census Bureau, Joe Ann had
brought the standards of the occupational health service to such a high
level that she received the Office of Personnel Management Director's
Award for Outstanding Employee Health Services Program - the highest
such honor awarded in the Federal Government. In 1997, she received
the Office of Personnel Management Director's Honorable Mention Award
for Work and Family Programs. These awards recognized innovations by
Joe Ann including:
starting support groups for cancer, diabetes, weight loss,
families experiencing autism, smoking cessation, and new mothers'
concerns
starting a comprehensive ergonomics program
starting one of the first AED programs in the Federal Government
providing a lactation room and having that service supported by a lactation nurse
Joe Ann, quiet and unassuming, is a real "mover and shaker." We cannot
thank her enough for all she has done for the members and the
profession.
Joe Ann Conrades being congratulated by President Virginia Rauer on 25 years of service to MWAOHN
