Happy Nurses Month! In celebration of Nurses Week, we’re focusing this month’s edition of the Clinicians of the Month to recognize and celebrate nursing professionals from the CareerStaff network. Today, and every day, we celebrate all of their hard work, dedication, and passion.
We’re proud of these incredible nursing professionals, and we’re honored to have them on our team. We’re thankful to every nurse and clinician working hard to provide patient care. You are appreciated! Here’s a look at some of our nurses featured in past Clinicians of the Month as well as some new faces!
Get to Know Kenyatta
A certified nursing assistant for 17 years, Kenyatta joined the CareerStaff family last year and so far is enjoying it. She tells us a particular memory that sparked her desire to become a nursing professional.
“In 2003 when my grandmother’s condition declined and we had no other option but to put her in a nursing home,” she tells us. “I saw the environment and knew that I needed to jump in the field and be a change for someone. This field needs compassion and dedication.”
Throughout her career, she’s had many wonderful experiences and memories but she tells us that the one that sticks out the most to her is when she saved a life.
“The family was so appreciative and I knew my work wasn’t in vain,” she said.
Kenyatta tells us she is currently back in nursing school while working long hours, an accomplishment of which she is the most proud. But she doesn’t let that slow her down. Her kind heart and compassion shine through in all that she does.
Kenyatta tells us she finds inspiration from working with her residents. “Seeing these residents limited to doing things that a healthy person can do doesn’t stop them from finding a different way to do it. They never give up. They never let it kill their spirit!”
Her positivity and passion are echoed when asked what advice she’d give to young healthcare professionals: “You should always enter the facility with a smile and positive energy! These residents depend on and definitely feed off your energy. Treat all residents just like you would your family.”
4 Quick Questions:
What’s the best part of your day? “Having one on one time to talk with residents to see how I can improve anything in their life.”
What’s your favorite memory about working with CareerStaff? “My favorite memory about working with the company is the compassion and understanding with not only patients but their workers also.”
What’s the hardest part of your job? “Trying to keep everyone happy and taken care of promptly.”
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the day-to-day life of the working clinician over the past 10 years? “The biggest change is the staff not having the heart for this field. It’s more than a paycheck.”
You should always enter the facility with a smile and positive energy! These residents depend on and definitely feed off your energy. Treat all residents just like you would your family.
Get to Know Natalie
One of our August 2021 Clinicians of the Month, Natalie tells us her inspiration to become a nurse dates back to 2009 when she was in her mid-40s and found herself providing care for family members out of necessity.
“I was laid off from my job in manufacturing and found myself caregiving for family,” she told us. “A neighbor, a lifelong friend who is an RN, said, ‘Natalie, go back to school and get paid well for what you’re doing. You’re good at it!’ So at 45, back to school I went!”
Getting her LPN license in 2015, Natalie tells us that “going back to school at 45 and getting two associates degrees, one in general studies and one in nursing,” is one of the personal accomplishments she’s proudest of.
“The other is raising my son as a single mom,” she said. “He’s 31 now and accomplishing his own great things!”
Throughout her career, Natalie has primarily worked in home healthcare, and finds inspiration spending time with residents and learning more about them.
“Time spent with clients in their homes learning about them and their families is special to me,” she told us.
Spending quality time with patients and learning more about their stories and struggles is what she finds most inspirational about her career. “No matter how difficult the struggle, the perseverance and strength to fight for existence and health is inspiring.”
During her time in healthcare, Natalie tells us that she’s seen the impact that new technology has made in the industry. However, she told us that she feels that clinicians are now more empowered “to do more with less, with some great advancements in technology to help us help patients!”
This rings true with her advice to young healthcare professionals: “Always take the training and keep learning. Have empathy for your patients and be kind!”
4 Quick Questions:
How long have you been working with CareerStaff? “Since May 2021.”
What’s the best part of your day? “The first rounds of floor, greeting patients and checking on how they are, what they need, and how they’ve been since my last shift.”
What’s your favorite memory of working with CareerStaff? “Well, I’d have to say accomplishing my first day. I hadn’t worked a floor in a facility for five years! I was a little scared and full of anxiety. But I did it — it was fun dealing with patients and my coworkers were awesome!”
What is the hardest part of your job? “As an empath/fixer personality, it is when I’m dealing with a hospice patient’s illness that can’t be ‘fixed’ or healed. But I realize I’m helping the best I can by keeping them comfortable and as pain-free as possible.”
No matter how difficult the struggle, the perseverance and strength to fight for existence and health is inspiring.
Get to Know Marisa
Since 2005, Marisa, a December 2021 Clinician of the Month, has been providing care and compassion to her patients. Throughout her career, she’s most proud of her accomplishments in working in addiction services and mental health.
“I have helped open facilities and put policies and procedures in place due to my knowledge of medications and how detox units work and run,” she says. “I have dedicated my hard work and time to it because I am very passionate about it.”
One of her favorite memories of being a nurse was with a resident in a nursing home.
“There was a little lady that I was very fond of. The night nurses would tell me I spoiled her because I would sit with her during the day and talk to her and hold her hand. She was so scared all the time and just wanted someone to hold her hand. All the night nurses said she would call for me all night and that I spoiled her. I just enjoyed talking to her and caring for her. She was one of those patients I will never forget.”
Her empathy and caring heart shine through in all that she does for her patients. She tells us that the most inspirational and rewarding thing about being a nurse is seeing someone get better.
“In the oncology unit where I worked, you would see a patient diagnosed with cancer, go through chemotherapy and get in remission after knowing them for a whole year or more and became close with their families,” she tells us.
“I also worked in addiction services and you would see a client come in hopeless and sick and come to treatment over and over again, then finally get into recovery and be doing well after a year or more. Living life again, smiling, getting their children back. They always come back and thank you for helping them and being so grateful for your care. It’s the best thing about being a nurse to me, especially when you lose so many to see some get better is everything!”
Her passion to help others is also what inspired her to become a nurse.
“I realized I wanted to be a nurse when I gave birth in 2001. The nurses on the Labor and Delivery unit were so smart and I was blown away by how much they did before the MD even came into the room. I always liked helping people but I felt particularly pulled in the direction of nurse.”
4 Quick Questions:
What’s your favorite memory about working with CareerStaff? “So far my favorite memory is one student had a sore throat and I looked in his throat and saw white spots and told him he needed to go get his throat looked at by a Doctor or NP and he said ‘I took a Flintstone vitamin once; does that help?’ Betty and I just burst out laughing. The students are so funny and silly and I forget that due to their age group everything is so huge to them. Everything is a big deal. I’ve had students come in to see me for stubbed toes with five other kids have to walk them into my office.”
What’s the hardest part of your day? “The hardest part of my job is seeing anyone struggling either financially, mentally, or emotionally and feeling like they think they have no help.”
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the day-to-day life of the working clinician over the past 10 years? “The biggest change I’ve seen in the day-to-day life of clinicians over the last 10 years is how respected nurses have become. In the community when people find out I’m a nurse they are so thankful, especially since Covid, people are so grateful for us. I get ‘thank you for all that you do’ greetings and that is very humbling.”
Is there anything you’ve learned over the course of your career that you think young healthcare professionals should know? “I think I would tell other clinicians to listen to their patients. Treat each of them how you would want your mother, brother or child to be treated. People just want to know you care, so I would tell them to listen and pay attention.”
Patients always come back and thank you for helping them and being so grateful for your care. It’s the best thing about being a nurse to me.
Get to Know Heather
One of our June 2021 Clinicians of the Month, Heather, an RN, tells us of the moment she knew she wanted to become a nurse.
“As a young mom. I was working temp jobs and I was sent to test a new staple gun,” she told us. “They gave me 100,000 staples and said let me know when I was done. After three days of doing continuous stapling and much thought, I went home and told my husband, ‘I am going to college to be a nurse’. I went and enrolled the next day.”
Throughout her career, her experiences with her patients are what she finds most inspiring about being a nurse.
“I love making others feel important, listened to, and to make the quality of their daily lives better,” she told us.
An inspirational memory that particularly stands out to her is one of a resident in long-term care.
“I had a resident that was special needs in LTC,” she recalled. “She was like caring for a child and had been abused. As a team, we created a plan for her to receive a reward every day she followed simple rules. The first day it worked and she was so happy and she said, ‘thank you guys for saving my life.’ I will never forget her smile.”
4 Quick Questions:
What’s the best part of your day? “Working with the team to improve an outcome.”
What’s the hardest part of your job? “Being away from my family at home.”
What’s your favorite memory about working with CareerStaff? “I have two. I was able to go out on a whale watch while working in New Hampshire and it was incredible. The second was when my husband came to see me in Massachusetts and we went on a hot air balloon ride to see the trees changing in the fall.”
Is there anything you’ve learned over the course of your career that you think young healthcare professionals should know? “That this job is never ever about you! It is a calling to service, not just a J-O-B.”
I love making others feel important, listened to, and to make the quality of their daily lives better.
Find Your Next Nursing Career Opportunity with CareerStaff
Are you interested in joining professionals like Kenyatta, Natalie, Marisa, and Heather in America’s leading staffing network for nurses and other essential health professionals? We always have great opportunities across the country. Start searching for your next job now!
Once again, we want to say thank you nurses for all of your dedication, resilience, and passion. We appreciate you!