Hometown (where you live now): Springfield
Job title: Nursing Supervisor, Cardiac Cath Lab, TAVR Program Coordinator
Where do you work: Mercy Health–Springfield Regional Medical Center
Describe what your day is like/what you do: I come in in the morning and go through logistics to get set up for our outpatients. I coordinate the outpatient and inpatient schedule for the Cath Lab and EP (electrophysiology). I assist wherever I am needed and all of our department is cross-trained to work in every area. My areas of responsibilities include caths, peripheral work – arterial and venous and our electronic program, as well as the TAVR (trans aortic valve replacement) program. I'm also the coordinator of our outpatient clinic.
What inspired you to get into health care? Most everybody has a family member before them who was in health care. I noticed that every time you drive by a hospital, there's always a light on. I knew I'd never feel alone working there and it's true. I am surrounded by amazing teams. I turn around and there are always four people behind me waiting to help.
Health Care Hero: ‘I became a nurse to make a difference’
What's a memorable experience you've had in health care? I have spent the majority of my time in the cath lab. The patients are sick and scared and leaving their family, who are giving them over to complete strangers to take care of them. When the doctor gets the vessel open, they breathe a sigh of relief. Their pain is instantly gone. You get to tell the family that they are fine and it's a great privilege, especially now, when the family drops them at the door. We care for patients like our own family and we watch these physicians do things that there's no way they should have been able to do it and yet they get it done.
Health Care Hero: ‘I really love my job’
What do you want readers to know about your job right now? Mercy Health-Springfield Regional Medical Center has been a great support system for allowing us to continue doing our work and getting us the things that we need, while recognizing that it's a totally different time in health care than it's ever been. I still could not think of anything else I'd rather do than this.