J.D. Buchert has been in healthcare for over three decades.  He started as a combat medic in the US Army.  J.D. served in sixteen combat missions where he was awarded a bronze star for heroism and a purple heart, among numerous other honors. J.D. works at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. He is active on multiple shared governance councils and interdisciplinary committees including the research committee. He is active in his community sitting on three non-profit boards of directors, and volunteering hundreds of hours a year to non-profit charities. J.D. is president of the Texas Collaboration of Perioperative Nurses and the Dallas AORN chapter. As a member of the Texas Nursing Legislation Action Committee, he focuses on the passage of surgical smoke evacuation and workplace violence prevention legislation for Texas healthcare systems. His twenty-eight-year relationship with Dr. Steve Bayes balances his busy career.

J.D. led three nurse-driven research projects on aromatherapy.  He recruited and introduced research to 38 nurses who actively participated in these studies.  The results of the project allowed the nurses to make a change in their practice.  They learned that through research that they can make a difference.  J.D. believes that research plants the seeds for our future.