JY6 Foundation Nurses of the Year

Ashlee Blumhoff and Kris Gaster recognized as Nurses of the Year

By Virginia Olson

The Jorgen Yde (JY6) Foundation’s Nurses Dinner returns for the 12th time Saturday, March 25th at the Downtown Hilton Garden Inn. The event celebrates oncology nurses and their efforts around the Sioux Falls area while raising funds and awareness for pediatric cancer research and leukemia research. Sanford nurse Ashlee Blumhoff and Avera nurse Kris Gaster will be recognized as Nurses of the Year.

Both Ashlee and Kris believe it takes passion to be a nurse especially in oncology.

“I got into nursing to help people,” Ashlee says. “During nursing school is where I found my love for pediatric nursing. My first bedside nursing job is where I developed a passion for pediatric oncology nursing which has led me to oncology education and case management to now being a nurse practitioner and starting Sanford’s first Pediatric Survivorship Clinic.”

Ashlee says that in her current role she is there not only at the beginning of a patient’s cancer journey, but also there to care for them once they have completed treatment.

“The experiences I have had with patients and their families going through a cancer diagnosis has changed my view of life,” she says. “So many of these patients, their siblings, parents, and extended family have left imprints on my heart.”

Though healthcare has been challenging the last few years, Ashlee believes being a nurse has always been her true calling.

“Even during the hard times, I never questioned that I wasn’t exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I was meant to do.”

Like Ashlee, Kris believes nursing has also been her true calling.

“Oncology is not only my passion but also my vocation,” Kris says. “A calling to care for those affected by cancer and their loved ones.”

When Kris was 11, she lost her mother to cervical cancer.

“This was a time when doctors and families didn’t talk about cancer, so it was a complete shock to myself and my family, who were unprepared for her death. I believe God called me into nursing and oncology to heal my wounds and use me to help others heal,” she says. “That’s what cancer care is for me –it is personal.”

“I started in 1981 as a staff RN on a 12-bed oncology unit and never dreamt that caring for those with cancer would fill the next 41 years of my career.”

The Jorgen Yde (Y6) Foundation is a nonprofit public charity. The Yde family formed the foundation in 2011 after their 16-year-old son Jorgen died from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The family created the foundation as Jorgen’s final wish to pay forward the kindness and expert care he received from the nurses who battled cancer by his side.

This year’s Nurses Dinner is open to the public to celebrate nurses. Reserve tickets at EventsForJY6.com. n