John Luker, ACNP

John is a recent graduate Adult-Gero Acute Care Nurse Practitioner working with the Division of Critical Care in the Surgical ICU at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the ICU at Christian Hospital, and the Tele-ICU. He was raised in central Illinois and graduated with bachelor’s degrees in Biological Sciences and Nursing from SIUE, moved to St. Louis to work as a Trauma-Neuro ICU RN at a Level I trauma center, and eventually attended Goldfarb School of Nursing to graduate with an M.S.N. His favorite aspect of nursing is the privilege of meeting and connecting with critically ill patients and their families while assisting in optimizing their chances of a safe, speedy and maximal recovery. He’s forever amazed by the courage, humor, and strength in adversity displayed by ICU patients and their families, in addition to the coworkers staffing the units.

John’s favorite professional interest so far, aside from the privilege of working on a bedside team caring for the critically ill, included leading a departmental Practice, Quality and Research Professional Governance Council. Professional Governance provided a conduit for a motivated and talented interdisciplinary mix of RNs, hospital leadership, and interdepartmental representatives to work together to bring Quality Improvement and Evidence-Based Practice to the ICUs with the primary goal of improving patient outcomes. Topics of personal interest include spinal cord injury care and education, therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest, fever control and shivering in the ICU, and the A-F ICU liberation bundle.

Outside of work, John enjoys spending time with his wife, Kayla (who is also an NP), going on walks with their 90-lb AmStaff “Gryffin,” reading, and working out. He’s fallen in love with St. Louis thanks to its delicious food, beautiful parks, and wonderful zoo and museums.