Donna Dolezal receives DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award
Both a ‘science and an art’: Nurse manager reflects on 38-year career
Donna Dolezal, MSN, RN, a nurse manager in the Ambulatory Surgery Center at our university campus, was recognized with a DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award for her dedication to the field throughout her career.
One might think that after 38 years as a nurse, Donna Dolezal, MSN, RN, has little left to learn. But Donna Dolezal wholeheartedly disagrees.
“Even after all these years, I am still learning new things and am being challenged every day,” says Dolezal, a nurse manager in the Ambulatory Surgery Center at our university campus.
Dolezal was honored with a DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this year and recently reflected on what she has enjoyed most throughout her nursing career and the legacy she’s created at UI Health care.
A lifetime of leadership
Dolezal believes nursing is a rewarding career path because it allows her to care for and connect with patients during some of the most significant times of their lives. “It’s a blessing to care for others when they are at their most vulnerable,” she notes.
As a leader and mentor, she’s always reminding newer nurses that each patient and their situation are unique. “I try to emphasize that every patient is someone’s family or friend and should be treated respectfully,” she notes.
Just as she emphasizes respect for patients, Dolezal also values nurturing the growth of fellow nurses through regular guidance and encouragement to build on their skills, particularly ones that are just starting out in their careers.
“One of the things I have loved most throughout my career is welcoming new nurses, mentoring them, encouraging them, helping them grow—and then watching them go onto bigger things,” she says.
Dolezal motivates her team to keep learning and growing so they continue to build their base knowledge to solve problems using critical thinking skills. She also encourages them to stay up to date on the latest health care news and research by attending related conferences, networking with others in the industry, and reading up on the latest technology.
“I believe nursing is both a science and an art, and that you must understand the science behind the human body (and technology) and then be able to apply that knowledge in an artful way,” Dolezal says.
Although Dolezal began her nursing career at UI Health Care working in an inpatient unit, she eventually transitioned to become a perianesthesia nurse and has spent more than three decades caring for patients in the recovery rooms and pre-operative areas of the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) at our university campus.
Dolezal notes that one thing she regularly enjoys about being a PACU nurse is the autonomy and responsibility nurses have to handle a wide range of patient needs, including patients who may not be breathing on their own yet, those in need of pain relief, or comforting patients as nausea sets in, a common side effect of anesthesia.
When she’s not providing compassionate care to her patients or mentoring young nurses, you’ll find Dolezal spending time with her family, including her husband, three kids and their spouses, and two grandchildren, all of whom live in Iowa. She regularly advocates for her team to foster a healthy work-life balance, encouraging everyone to find things they enjoy outside of work. For her, it’s hiking the Grand Canyon—her “favorite place in the world”—or biking long distances.
From mentoring young nurses to advocating for balance and well-being among her team, Dolezal’s impact throughout her long-standing career at UI Health Care extends far beyond the PACU. Her DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award reflects not only her decades of compassionate care but also her enduring contributions to nursing teams and the countless patients she has touched along the way.
