A Lifelong Connection to Children's National

Julia Volcjak has been a nurse at Children’s National Hospital for nearly 30 years. Her lifelong connection with our hospital started with stories she heard as a kid. Julia’s mother had stayed in our hospital for a week when she was sick with polio at age 5. “My grandmother recalled the excellent care at Children’s National back in 1944,” she says. Both Julia’s grandmother and mother became long-time donors.

Following nursing school, Julia worked in the neurosurgery, neurology and orthopaedics inpatient unit at Children’s National. For the last 18 years, she has been a nurse in our emergency department. “From the start I have loved the hospital’s positive energy and how staff often pulls on a variety of resources to help a family.” Julia volunteered at our drive-up/walk-up testing site during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the first in the nation. “The resiliency I see in the kids also keeps me inspired and engaged.”

After Julia’s mother passed away recently at 82, she found an old article the hospital published in the 1940s. It mentioned how her grandfather had donated candy to the nursing staff after her mother’s recovery. “He was so grateful for the compassionate care she had received,” she says. “I’ve heard and been a part of these kind of moments at Children’s National throughout the years.”