We’re excited to introduce Sara, Nanci, Lisa and John, the CareerStaff Clinicians of the Month for July, 2021! And this month, we’re also happy to announce that John has won our quarterly raffle.
Remember, all nominations for Clinician of the Month nominations are included in the raffle, with the winner scoring an additional bonus. Congratulations to John, and thanks for all of your hard work!
And thanks to all the other July 2021 Clinicians of the Month, too, as well as to all the other nurses and clinicians working hard to keep patients safe and healthy. You are appreciated!
CareerStaff Clinicians of the Month, April 2021
Meet John
Not just a July 2021 CareerStaff Clinician of the Month but also the winner of our quarterly raffle, John has been working as a nurse for 11 years now. He’s also rapidly approaching his two-year anniversary with CareerStaff, having worked straight through the Covid-19 crisis with no break or vacation.
Thinking back to the beginning of his career, John said that he realized he was destined to work in healthcare at an early age. When he was younger, he observed in himself “concern, empathy and compassionate,” he told us.
Today, he’s gratified to see the people he cares for respond to that compassion. “My personal accomplishments of which I am most proud is having patients and some family members saying and writing good things about me to the administration,” he told us.
John also shared his favorite memory as a nurse.
“When I was new nurse of about three months working the night shift and doing my routine check up on patients, I found out that a patient was unresponsive after calling 911,” he recalled. “Doing my assessment, I found out that the patient blood sugar was 40mg/dl. I was able to revive the patient by giving Glucagon before EMT arrived. My supervisor applauded me as a new nurse!”
Now, a decade later, John has watched with some concern as the industry has “become more insurance centered,” he explained. As a result, he feels that the focus may sometimes be too much on documentation and too little on patient care.
Nonetheless, he also still finds inspiration on a day-to-day basis from the smiles he gets from patients, “when they see me and say thank you so much when am leaving their rooms.” And his passion for patient care shines through in his every word and action.
“Over the length of my career I leaned that to be honest, compassionate and provide patient satisfaction has been my ultimate goal,” John said. “I would advise that the young healthcare professionals treat their patients the way they want to be treated.”
4 Quick Questions!
What’s the best part of your day? “When I was able to control an angry patient to smile.”
What’s the hardest part of your job? “Sometimes, patients or families are not satisfied with services offered. Yet patience and calmness help overcome such situations.”
What do you find most inspirational about working in healthcare? “Making my patients comfortable, meeting their needs and making them feeling at home.”
What do you love about working with CareerStaff? “Careerstaff is more concerned about their nurses. It’s easy to reach my recruiter and they’re always willing to help solve my problems.”
Meet Lisa
A nurse for an amazing 23 years, Lisa told us that working in healthcare is a family tradition for her. And even above and beyond that tradition, she’s always been compelled to help others.
“Most of my family have careers in healthcare,” she told us. “I have always enjoyed helping other people. I guess it was my destiny to work in a field where I could help make a difference in people’s lives, especially where they are feeling so vulnerable.”
Since then, she’s had many memorable moments with the patients in her care.
“As a nurse I have had many opportunities to make people feel hopeful when they have lost hope or given people a reason to smile when they are feeling scared, anxious or just under the weather,” she said.
“Being sick can be life changing. Helping my patients feel moments of comfort while they are sick has created many favorite memories for me.”
Yet there have been struggles and challenges, too.
“The changes I have noticed most over the years have been decreases in compassion shown by clinicians to their patients,” she said. “Wondering why burdens my heart and makes me conscious to always strive to maintain my own compassion. Compassion is a part of the healing process; it quickens the pace.”
A member of the CareerStaff family for almost six months, Lisa’s skills as an RN and her focus on compassion in her patient care duties have made her a shining star during that time.
“Everyone with CareerStaff Unlimited has been extremely nice and helpful,” she said. “The positivity shown has created awesome memories.”
And that positivity is particularly important to Lisa, and a key part of her advice to younger nurses.
“Believe in the reason you became a nurse,” she said. “Never lose sight of what you can achieve. Take the negative things you hear with a grain of salt. Keep compassion as a badge others can see. Believe all people can be better than they are. Above all keep an open mind so that you can learn and keep moving in a positive direction.”
4 Quick Questions!
What’s the hardest part of your job? “Losing someone is always tough, but pushing everyday, to be my best, regardless of how I feel, to be so that others see an inspiration that challenges them to do their best makes for some days to be really tough.”
What’s the best part of your day? “Seeing my daughters happy and smiling makes for a great day, followed by people happy and smiling at work.”
What’s the personal accomplishment of which you’re most proud? “I have been trustworthy, compassionate, caring, giving 100% to the best of my ability every day to my fellow workers and always to the people I care for.”
What do you find most inspirational about working in healthcare? “Knowing that you have helped a patient to recover, assisted in a tough process at times, seeing families with hope, that things can and will get better, is pretty inspirational. Giving that little bit of extra care and attention when circumstances will not allow for a better outcome is felt in the hearts of patients and family members. That touch, that smile you get, is very inspirational.”
Meet Nanci
Nanci is a lifelong nursing professional with a career that spans five decades and counting. “I have been an RN since 1981 and a CEN and Trauma Nurse Specialist since 1994,” she told us.
“I remember pushing my ‘nurses station’ proudly down the street at age five,” she recalled. “My grandfather was a surgeon and always said, ‘being a physician is NOT for women’ … too much work and just a very hard road. Stupidly, all six of his daughters and 28 granddaughters believed him!”
Though that lesson rings false now, it was “very different times back then,” Nanci explained. “But we learned a great deal at his elbow. Some of us even got to go into the OR (and autopsy) with him.”
As accomplished as Nanci is, she’s never lost her focus on providing the best possible patient care.
“Do not be overly concerned with all the initials behind your name,” she told us. “Choose your passion and hone that craft. That degree means absolutely NOTHING if you are not always working to be a better nurse and person with excellent listening skills and empathy.”
That empathy has served her well in her years as a nurse. She remembers finding inspiration when she realized that “I was privileged enough at least once that day to help make someone’s day just a little bit better,” she said.
Since then, she keeps her feet on the ground, with a clear sense of not just her accomplishments but her good fortune.
“I was initially proud of have achieved getting my RN degree while I was raising my toddler daughter on my own,” she said. “I was also fortunate to be taught specific ‘new’ techniques by some of the best physicians in their field. I learned Swan-Ganz from Dr. Ganz,” she recalled.
“Then, of course, sitting for and passing my Certified Emergency Nurse 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2011 and my Trauma Nurse Specialist diploma (awarded by University of Louisville surgery MDs) — three months of the most grueling work! And now it is called TNCC and is 4 days.”
A part of the CareerStaff team since January, 2021 Nanci told us that she loves the company’s “friendliness and willingness to help newcomers as well as long-termers,” as well as “their all-around professionalism.”
4 Quick Questions!
What’s the hardest part of your job? Well, my CareerStaff job is different than emergency nursing, but they each have their own challenges. I of course see much more of that horrible ‘thief’ of Alzheimer’s. So cruel.”
What lessons have you learned in your amazing career as a nurse? “I learned early on (at 19 years old) that trauma is ‘the great equalizer.’ That can go for any illness. It’s humbling and truly teaches empathy … if you pay attention and are lucky!”
What’s your favorite memory about being a clinician? “Funny stories, but mainly the great feeling when you KNOW you have made a positive difference in someone’s life that day … no matter how fleeting, and no matter who else knew.”
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the past 10 years? “This last crazy Covid year skews everything, but finally, physicians and nurses, as well as other professional staff, have finally learned to work together as a true team. We need each other. They finally realize we all have different skills, and nurses are finally respected for what they know and are capable of.”
Meet Sara
A CNA for 10 years, Sara always had a sense that she would work in healthcare. “I have always known healthcare was meant for me,” she told us, “I just wasn’t always sure where in healthcare.”
Today, she cites attaining her degree as the personal accomplishment of which she’s most proud. But that’s not the only part of the job that she finds inspirational and fulfilling.
“I find successfully helping the patients is the most inspirational part of my job,” she said. “Helping others in general is my favorite part of being a clinician.”
“I’ve worked with CareerStaff for five months now,” she added. “My favorite memory working for CSU would be how supportive they are. Every time I call or text, the response is very prompt and helpful.”
4 Quick Questions!
What’s the best part of your day? “The best part of my working day is staying active and being productive.”
What’s the hardest part of your job? “Encouraging the patient to do things for themselves.”
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the course of your career? “The biggest change I’ve seen in the last ten years is the shift from facility to travel.”
Is there anything you’ve learned that you think younger nursing professionals should know? “Learn to listen to the patient; everyone is different.”
Join the Amazing Team of CareerStaff Clinicians!
Interested in joining nursing professionals like Sara, Nanci, Lisa, and John in America’s leading nurse staffing network? Learn more about the benefits of working with CareerStaff here, or start looking for your next nursing job now!