She had trained at the Napier Hospital and completed her operating theatre post-graduate certificate at Wellington Hospital and later held positions as supervisor of six surgical wards in Napier, and was on a committee which produced and wrote the Ethical Code of Practice for Napier Hospital, as well as a nurse's procedure book.
She was involved in a wide range of medicine - including coronary care, intensive care, and a series of research issues.
Having seen the effects of injury from bicycle accidents, and the effects they had on victims' families, she set out on what would best be described as a passionate, often all-consuming, crusade to get people to wear helmets, and correctly, five years before it became law for cyclists to wear them.
She visited schools, spoke to community groups, and actively monitored schoolchildren as they arrived and left school on their bikes to ensure helmets were correctly fitted.
After a survey which she later presented to its board, the then Colenso High School became the first state secondary school in Hawke's Bay to make it mandatory for all cycling students to wear a safety helmet two years before the law was introduced in January 1992.
She then realised many children encountered problems fitting and securing them properly so embarked on what would eventually be known as "The Johnson Test".
She travelled throughout the country visiting schools and fitted and adjusted more than 8000 helmets - as well as carrying out intensive, and internationally recognised, evaluations of how people wore helmets and how safe they were.
"She had a real tenacity for that cause," Mrs Bauckham said.
"She was absolutely passionate about it."
She is survived by sons Gareth and Blair, and daughter Kate.
