WORLAND – Registered nurse Julie Stott was named the Banner Health Washakie Medical Center (WMC) Employee of the Year for 2020.

Stott has been an employee at WMC for nearly 32 years, and was nominated for the award after showing her versatility as a nurse in a rural hospital setting.

"I am very honored to be the employee of the year," Stott said. "I work with some very skilled professional people so to be the employee of the year out of such a great group is such an honor."

According to WMC Chief Nursing Officer Lisa Van Brunt, Stott is unique in her ability to be able to work in different departments such as surgery, delivery, chemotherapy, intensive care unit (ICU) and the emergency department (ED).

Van Brunt said this is different as compared to nurses in larger towns, as nurses in a rural community need to be cross-trained to be able to help in each department as opposed to only specializing in one like larger hospitals.

One of the main nominations that earned Stott the award came from a day where she worked in the operating room (OR), in-patient unit where she was helping a new nurse on the unit, chemotherapy and postpartum for a new mother and child.

"She is just so committed to not only the community and the hospital but to her team," Van Brunt said. "She is widely respected across the facility and one of our most trusted nurses."

Van Brunt said with Stott and other cross-trained nurses having the the ability to be versatile this gives the hospital the opportunity to provide specialty treatment and have different nurses with the ability to work in different departments.