John Dunn appreciates the sentiment but contends others are more deserving of the recognition he is receiving.
“The true heroes are the nurses in the hospital and the respiratory therapists. The folks in imaging. They’re the ones who are working double shifts and holidays and being on call.”
Dunn’s deflection comes through his experience as a patient. He suffered a heart attack, underwent back surgery, had a joint replacement and battled skin cancer – and marvels at the care he received.
Dunn has worked as a triage nurse for Methodist Physician Clinic for two and a half years. He started his career in health care as an orderly, then an emergency medical technician on a rescue squad before pursuing training and then working as a registered nurse for nearly eight years.
His drive for a career in health care came through necessitation. “I came across my best friend who was run over by a car. He was lying in the middle of a gravel road in the middle of winter.” Dunn, then a high school junior, picked up his friend, a high school senior, and placed him in a car. “I thought it was the best thing to do.”
It was. His friend spent months in the hospital, underwent multiple surgeries – and survived.
Fast forward after several decades working in health care administration and management, and Dunn couldn’t stay away. At age 65, he “dusted off” his nursing degree and returned to work as a triage nurse in internal medicine. He spends his days talking with people on the telephone about what ails them and directing them about the actions they should take.
Some callers, he said, focus on prescription refills. Others are more serious, for example, a caller experiencing chest pains. Many callers are elderly.
“So many elderly people are isolated. Some of them just need to talk to someone who cares.”
Dunn never fails to follow up, his nominator wrote. “He is empathic, compassionate, and I feel I could tell him anything. He is an excellent communicator, usually when I feel the worst.”
His nominator paid Dunn, age 68, another compliment that caused him to chuckle: “Having never met him, only talk to him over the phone, I have a mental picture of a young Tom Selleck.”
Dunn’s response: “Well, I would just ask her to hold onto that image.”
