Debra Wooton joined the Hazard Health & Rehabilitation nursing staff in June of 2015. She has worked as a Charge Nurse, MDS Coordinator and as of April 2018 her position is Assistant Director of Nursing/Quality Assurance Coordinator. In her role as ADON/QA Coordinator, she is a jack of all trades in the facility.
Deb makes round and points out the good things staff are doing and kindly points out thing that need to be addressed. Staff feel they can come to her as a friend to talk through personal issues or make suggestions on care needs. She is not judgmental and treats everyone fairly.
Whatever needs to be done, Deb will jump in and assist the nursing staff, residents or other departments. Her decisions are precise and directions are clear. This helps in supervising the staff and giving suggestions on care needs.
During COVID, Deb would come in at 6 AM twice a week to test residents and staff. Sometimes she would perform 375 tests each day. She was gentle and compassionate in doing the test, knowing how uncomfortable it is.
She not only organized but took charge of her facility's COVID vaccination clinics. She came in on her day off and worked all three of them. Each one went smoothly as Deb recruited other department head nurses to assist her. She is a true healthcare hero.