Chelsea's Judy Libby Is Named

Gifford nurse Judy Libby was recently named Registered Nurse of the Year for Vermont. (Herald / Tim Calabro)

'Registered Nurse of the Year'

When Judy Libby’s co-workers at the Menig Extended Care Facility told her they were staying for the Vermont Health Care Association banquet, following a day of seminars Wednesday, she didn’t think much of it.

"I just called home and told my husband I wouldn’t be home for dinner," Libby recalled this week.

The banquet at the Killington Grand Resort Hotel and Conference Center included awards, and Libby listened as nursing home workers in a variety of categories were honored. When they reached "Registered Nurse of the Year," Libby recalls hearing "Menig," but not much else.

She hardly recalls hearing her own name called out as the recipient of the statewide honor.

"Honest to God, it’s all a blur," said Libby, who was escorted to the front of the room to receive the award and found her family—including her husband–cheering her on from the back of the room.

Libby, Menig’s charge nurse, was recognized by the Vermont Health Care Association, an organization that represents nursing homes, on Wednesday in Killington. Unbeknownst to her, she had been nominated by Menig Director of Nursing Brooks Chapin.

"I’m very pleased and honored," Libby said Thursday of receiving the award, "and, obviously, I was very surprised."

Libby, who lives on Chelsea's West Hill, has been a nurse for more than 35 years and for the last three has worked as the charge nurse at Menig, Gifford Medical Center’s 30-bed nursing home.

Menig itself collected a pair of other awards this year—the Gold Star Award from the Vermont Health Care Association and a Quality Award and $25,000 for excellence in resident care from the Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living.

The nursing home received both awards in 2005 as well, a year in which Chapin was named nursing director of the year.

In nominating Libby for this year’s RN of the Year award, Chapin wrote that "Judy Libby is the ideal colleague, mentor and friend. Judy is meticulous, organized … is thoughtful, has a great rapport with residents and staff, is highly respected by her peers, is a team player and is well-rounded.

"Judy is willing to stay late, come in early and pick up extra shifts, even on her days off. … She never falters in her love of geriatrics and continuously provides excellent patient care. Judy has been a role model for me in my nursing career. In a difficult situation, I step back and ask myself: ‘What would Judy do?’"

Libby has worked in long-term care for 25 years.

"I just love working here," she said of Menig. "It was a wonderful choice for me to come here."

Menig is small enough that Libby is left feeling that the work she and her staff do really impacts residents and their quality of life, she said.

"Menig is an even better place because of Judy," Chapin says. "She is a breath of fresh air and an honor to work with."

When not at Menig, Libby gardens, quilts and spends time with her family. She is a mother to three, Emily Marshia, and Ken and Paul Libby, and also a grandmother to three little Marshias.