In a bustling clinic in Davao City, Philippines, nurse Jun Barrientos creates the patient schedule for the day’s surgeries. Each surgery represents a child born with a cleft condition—and their opportunity for a brighter, healthier future.
When Jun first joined Operation Smile in 2011, he stepped into an unexpected role. “I was asked by one of the plastic surgeons to join because they lack nurses for the operating room, and I was available, so I said yes,” he recalls. Today, Jun represents a vital part of Operation Smile’s work: nurses who provide the comprehensive care that make surgeries possible, guiding patients through every step on the journey to a new smile.
Connecting communities to quality surgical care
For children with cleft conditions, hope arrives with perioperative nurses like Dandy Ledesma, who travels to remote communities across the Philippines to provide care. Despite challenges, these dedicated nurses work to ensure every patient can access safe surgical care.
Dandy’s path to Operation Smile began in 2006, inspired by a nurse in his hometown, who told Dandy nurses joined Operation Smile to make a difference in their communities.
For Dandy, it became more than a volunteer opportunity. “This is my calling,” he shares. “A calling to be part of this organization, Operation Smile.”
Nurses: There for patients every step of the way
Operation Smile nurses guide families through every step of their journey, preparing them for their surgeries and working hand-in-hand with care takers and family members to support healthy recoveries. This comprehensive support—from initial consultations through post-operative care—helps ease anxieties and improves outcomes.
In the operating room, nurses’ expertise helps ensure each procedure is performed safely and effectively. For Dandy, who participates in at least eight surgical trips every year, each case reinforces his purpose: “What inspires me to be a nurse is helping people to have better outcome[s]… I want to be part of their process of healing because nurses can see patients from womb to tomb.”
Seeing those reactions for me is motivating. I’m motivated to do more and giving back one smile at a time.
Making a difference, one smile at a time
The impact of their work shines through the children and families they help. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dandy witnessed a father’s tears of joy after his child’s surgery—a child who had faced bullying at school.
For Jun, a memorable case involved unexpectedly providing a student nurse volunteer with surgery after discovering she had a cleft lip. “She was so thankful. We were happy because it was not too late to ask her to do the surgery.”
Equipping nurses to deliver more smiles
For over 35 years, Johnson & Johnson has helped create these joyful moments through our collaboration with Operation Smile. Together, we’ve helped provide smiles to children and young adults born with cleft conditions. Over the lifetime of our partnership, we’ve provided product, financial and employee support to connect more communities to the care they need and deserve.
The relationship has evolved into a multidimensional and programmatic partnership, which aims to expand access to safe surgery. To this end, Johnson & Johnson is working alongside Operation Smile to build healthcare capacity, provide nurse leadership training and support policy and advocacy efforts at national and global levels.
In 2024, Johnson & Johnson supported the launch of the Nurse Leadership and Development Initiative in Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Through local workshops, the program provides the opportunity for health workers to enhance their leadership and technical skills, with support from J&J mentors. Each professional is trained to return home to share knowledge, creating a multiplier effect in their community.
This work is supported by J&J CareCommunity, Johnson & Johnson’s social impact platform that is championing nurses and community health workers to help accelerate access to quality care. Together with Operation Smile, we trained over 3,000 nurses in 2024 alone.
It is the dedication of nurses like Jun and Dandy that turns this support into smiles, one child at a time. Through J&J CareCommunity, we are supporting nurses around the world as they lead and deliver for communities. Learn more about
J&J CareCommunity today.
