A new year is (finally) here, and with it comes the latest team of CareerStaff Clinicians of the Month! This time around, please join us in congratulating Angelica, Jean, Seth and Stephanie! They’re all CNAs working hard to help provide critical patient care, representing our Kentucky, Orlando and Seattle locations.
And we’re also proud to announce that Stephanie is the winner of our quarterly raffle! All of our nominees for Clinician of the Month are included in the raffle, and every three months, we offer an additional bonus to the raffle winner. So, double congrats to Stephanie, and more importantly, THANK YOU to all of our Clinicians of the Month, and to everyone else in the CareerStaff network! You are appreciated!
Meet Angelica
Angelica, a CNA who works out of our Orlando office, has been a clinician for eight years now, and a member of the CSU family for three months. And so far, it’s been a great fit — as she raved about the CareerStaff team: “The communication is awesome!!”
From an early age, Angelica “fell in love with caring for someone other than myself,” she told us, leading her down the nursing career path. To this day, she cites “being able to help others” as her proudest accomplishment, and looks back happily on the bonds she’s built.
“My favorite memory will always be the joy in my clients,” she said.
4 Quick Questions!
What do you find most inspirational about working in healthcare? “My clients.”
What’s the hardest part of your job? “Leaving.”
What’s the best part of your day? “Knowing that my clients are okay.”
Is there anything you’ve learned over the course of your career that you’d like to share with others? “Having patience is key.”
Meet Jean
A certified nursing assistant for three years now, Jean realized that he was destined for a career in healthcare at an even younger age: “I chose nursing as my career path because I have always enjoyed helping residents, people and patients,” he told us.
And that motivation certainly shines through in the exemplary work Jean does, day in and day out. It shows that his favorite part of the job is “helping someone regain their health and allowing them to be able to do everything again.”
He also takes inspiration from those he works with: “Having a motivating team and seeing that I can actually help others in need” are what drives his work, he told us.
Jean has been with CareerStaff for six months now, and told us that his favorite part of that experience has been the connections, and the sense of family. “I feel connected like family,” he said. “I feel comfortable.”
4 Quick Questions!
What gives you pride in your work? “I am proud to be a healthcare professional. I’m proud to care and show lots of love to the residents.”
What’s the best part of your day? “After I clock into my facility and all of my patients greet me with warm faces. It’s hard not to smile.”
What’s the hardest part of your job? “Not being able to fix everyone’s conditions.”
Is there anything you’ve learned that you think young healthcare workers should know? “There are many ways to care for residents and appease different patients, and it is best to always have a positive attitude.”
Meet Seth
Seth has been a clinician for 16 years now: “I was born into it,” he told us, “having a father who is now a retired ARNP, and a mother who’s a pediatric occupational therapist. My family is full of healthcare workers, in all fields of healthcare.
“I used to chase family pets around the house attempting to take blood pressures,” he recalls. “My first A&P classes were taught by processing turkeys for Thanksgiving with my dad. Healthcare will always be my profession before I even realized it.
He remembers taking his first formal steps into the life of a working clinician back in 2004, when he took his first CNA course with Messenger House Care Center on Bainbridge Island in his native Washington State back.
“From there I worked assisted living, home health, LTC, Rehab and hospice,” he told us. “In 2014 I began working in hospitals, med/surg, ICU/telemetry, burn unit, PSYC, and finally found my passion in the ER.”
If that sounds like a huge variety of experience, it’s only the beginning for Seth, who’s constantly working on the next goal. “I am currently working towards my BSN,” he said. “Each experience I have in each facility or hospital makes me want to go as far as I can to provide the care needed on every level and within all scopes of practice.”
Working with the CSU Seattle office for about four months now, Seth expressed his admiration for the people he’s met there. “My recruiter Dena, she is always tirelessly working, and always available,” he said. “If she doesn’t have an answer, she gets it. She makes working for this company a great experience. Because of her I have faith in continuing working with CareerStaff for many years.”
Of course, for Seth, every experience is a rewarding one, and a chance for growth. He’s had “great memories from every place that I have worked. When you can reach a patient and make their day doing what you can to make them feel safe, cared for, and protected while they’re sick,” he added, “the smile, nod, or hand grasp. Those are what makes doing what I do the best memories.”
“What I find most inspirational about working in healthcare is being able to affect the lives of my community and society in general,” Seth told us. “If we care for each other and show that there is love and compassion in this world no matter how sick they are be that person to show them that we got them and that we care.
“That is healthcare, and personally my inspiration; I see my fellow clinicians walk this path and I’m with them arm in arm,” he said. “It’s an exceptional lifestyle that takes passion and grit.”
4 Quick Questions!
Outside of clinical work, what personal accomplishments make you proud? “I have a five-acre farm, animals, a place to come home breath and be happy. Wonderful family and a life to be proud of.”
What’s the best part of your day? “Waking up to feed my animals, having my coffee, checking messages from my kids, making plans with my lady (also future BSN), and enjoying country farm life.”
What’s the hardest part of your job? “Consoling grieving families, and handling a code that has gone bad. Death is always the worst part. Sometimes, there is only so much you can do. We humans can be fickle things; you take a breath and hope for the best sometimes.”
Is there anything you’ve learned that you’d like to share with others? “The most important thing I have learned over the course of my career is to have compassion and to be selfless. I am in this field to care for the weak, old, sick, and dying. It’s important to use your strength and mind and do the best you can, everything else comes second.”
Meet Stephanie
Finally, let’s take a moment to get to know our newest raffle winner! Stephanie is a CNA who also works with our team in Orlando. She brings unmistakable joy, humor and a ton of heart to that role, too, telling us that she loves “the smiles on my patients’ faces.”
“One specific patient who is bed-bound and has no motor skills, would light up every time I came into their room and shouted their name,” she recalled. “My heart melts just thinking of it. I still Facetime with this patient, even during COVID. I love building relationships.”
Stephanie has been a certified nursing assistant “for almost ten wonderful years!” she said. “My first job as a CNA was at a hospital. Fresh out of school and everything. I was so nervous. I worked on a med/surg unit, where you get a blend of all kind of patients.
“My first week on the job, I was greeted with a patient who was a father of three young children. He was not in the best of conditions and I knew that his health was declining; knowing inevitably what was going to happen. Within two weeks, he unfortunately passed.
“I remember his children and wife grasping to me in those moments and me comforting them with my words, and also just being present, holding their hand in silence and just acknowledging their pain and sorrow. I had just lost my father one year prior and I knew the suffering they were enduring, making it relatable.
“The gratitude they expressed to me will forever stick with me, the appreciation. They even requested I did his post-mortem care. I thought to myself, ‘me?! You want me to do it?!’ That is such an honor and blessing to be asked to do such a thing. It was then I knew I made the right decision to be in healthcare.”
Although Stephanie has been with CareerStaff for just a few months, she already has great things to say about the experience.
“I love my recruiter Meagan,” she raved. “When she nonchalantly mentioned she had nominated this for me, I thought, ‘what?! Why?! Me!! What did I do?!’ I was having a rough week, and she truly brightened my day. She’s awesome. I love having a good team to work with.”
And in our current moment, that teamwork is more important than ever. “Especially with COVID, I feel like we are becoming more appreciated and valued by society for our worth and our diligence as health care professionals in any role we possess; not just doctors, or nurses, but aides as well,” she told us.
“We are the true unsung heroes who go above and beyond for our people and will always fight for them and spend the most time with them. I love that we have become more recognized for this.”
When asked about what continues to inspire her, Stephanie expressed her love for “working in rehab and being able to see some of my patients go from their worst moments to their brightest moments.
“I love seeing them not being able to walk, to seeing them strut down the hall with a walker two weeks later, and just cheering them on. Whether they’re assigned to me or not, just seeing their smile and illumination on their face, that their determination pays off. My heart. So smiley!”
4 Quick Questions!
What’s the best part of your day? “Being able to make others feel good about themselves — and clean.”
What’s the hardest part of your job? “Coming into contact with those who are suffering. They always say not to get attached — but it’s hard when you empathize.”
What’s the personal accomplishment you’re proudest of? “Being nominated for Clinician of the Month with Career Staff! But side note — just doing traveling with being a nursing assistant and learning and gaining so much knowledge in the healthcare field, that I am able to respond to my patients and situations so adequately and appropriately. I am proud of the growth I have made over the last 10 years.”
Is there anything you’ve learned that you’d like to share? “Like I’ve said, they tell you not to get attached to your patients and maintain professionalism. I personally think it’s okay to get attached to a certain degree; you’re only human.
“To some patients, you’re their only family. They see you eight to 16 hours a day, five days a week, sometimes even more; you’re their safe place and home, you know them inside out and they know you. It’s okay to grieve when you lose them, it’s okay to console a family and shed tears with them, it’s okay to have a heart. Work hard, do your best and remember to keep your patients care and dignity the center of your career; if you can do that, you’re in the right place.”
Interested in joining Stephanie, Seth, Jean and Angelica in America’s leading nurse recruitment network? We’ve got opportunities across the U.S.A! Learn more about the benefits of working with CareerStaff, or browse our available jobs now.