Muntefering Will End 40-Year Career Of Caring At Avera St. Benedict On June 30
Denise Muntefering, RN, will end a 40-year career of nursing at the Avera St. Benedict Health Center on June 30.
“I will truly miss the patients, families and the amazing co-workers of Avera St. Benedict, along with the entire Avera family,” she said. “Avera offers so many opportunities to build professional relationships.”
Muntefering’s nursing career began in 1980 on the Surgical Floor of Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell. In 1983, she joined the Avera St. Benedict team as a staff nurse until she was promoted to the Director of Nursing in 1992. Muntefering became the Vice President of Patient Care Services in 2008 – a role she still holds today.
“We used to joke that calling a Code Blue meant nothing, because there was no one else to help except your one co-worker,” she said of her early days with the organization. “Now the hospital has grown to include more staff members, attached facilities and help is as close as just pushing the button for telemedicine services. What a blessing!
“Watching Avera St. Benedict grow from a stand-alone hospital to a full continuum of health care services is one of the things I am very proud to have been a part of because this has allowed our patients to be cared for locally in many instances,” Muntefering added. “I am also very proud of the patient care/nursing staff and their dedication to rural health care.”
In recognition of her contributions to the nursing profession and to Avera St. Benedict, Muntefering was given a DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award in May. The DAISY Program honors and celebrates the skillful and compassionate care nurses provide every day. DAISY is an acronym for “Diseases Attacking the Immune System.” For more information about the organization, visit DaisyFoundation.org.
The nomination letter for the award noted that many nurses over the years have been told on their first day to “follow Denise …”
“We follow her as a leader, mentor, co-worker, friend and, especially, as a nurse,” the letter read. “She is full of compassion, kindness and empathy. She ensures and trusts that we, her team, have the same compassion, kindness and empathy for all of our patients, families, co-workers and everyone we encounter at Avera St. Benedict. Denise’s compassion for her team is evident daily. She shows up in scrubs when she knows ‘it’s just going to be one of those days.’ She gives us pep talks, reassurance that we ‘can handle it,’ and has unending availability, in person or by phone, no matter what time of day or night. We always know that Denise will stand behind us. She is our leader, our fiercest advocate and our kind voice of reason.”
Muntefering also contributed to the nursing profession by being a part of the South Dakota Organization of Nursing Executives, the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations and various initiatives within Avera.
“Denise has been a strong nursing leader not only in our facility but also throughout the Avera system and the entire state of South Dakota,” said Lindsay Weber, President and CEO of Avera St. Benedict. “She is a supporter of health care education and has been integral in creating lasting relationships with several formative student programs across the state. Denise has had a tremendous impact on me and has been an invaluable leader who always puts the needs of patients, staff and community above all.”
Muntefering is proud to have two daughters who have also found careers with Avera so her ties to the organization will remain.
Looking to her retirement, Muntefering will keep busy with the family pheasant hunting business and her nine active grandchildren.
“We love attending their events and spending time with them,” she stated. “In between, we plan to travel to the Black Hills area, as well as somewhere warm in the winter!”