Nurses. They’re the ones who check our vitals, conduct an initial assessment and get us ready to see the doctor. They’re the ones who come to our bedsides tending to our needs all hours of the day and night during hospital stays. They’re the ones who hold our hands when we’re scared and speak words of reassurance to our families. And they’re the ones who offer a hug or shoulder to cry on during the worst of times.
Sandy Quinlan and Susan Johnson, two nurses at Angel Medical Center, work in different departments and focus on different areas of health and wellness. Quinlan is in her first year working at AMC, and Johnson has been employed at the hospital for more than 20 years. But they share a common goal: helping their patients and their families.
Discovering the path to wellness
Sandy Quinlan joined the staff at Angel’s cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation department last summer. Originally from Melbourne, Florida, Quinlan said she enjoys the beautiful mountains and friendly people in Macon County.
Although she’s new to AMC, Quinlan has been a nurse for 14 years. She has worked in variety of health care settings and spent six years working in employee health, but cardiac is where her heart is. “I’ve always loved cardiac,” she said.
Quinlan got her start as a medical secretary. “I always wanted to help people,” she said. “I was inspired by the nurses who worked around me.” She decided she wanted to be someone who could advocate for the patients and enrolled in nursing school.
She was 44 years old when she became a nurse. “It’s never too late to start,” she said. “We’re never too old to learn something new.”
As part of her job, she enjoys introducing people to healthier life choices, presenting information in a way everyone can understand, and helping them throughout their rehabilitation journey. She said the 12-week rehab program helps people pave a path for a lifetime of wellness. The department also offers a community wellness program which some people have participated in for many years.
During pulmonary rehabilitation, Quinlan sees patients come in on oxygen and by the time they finish the program they are breathing on their own.
“It’s a huge improvement in the quality of your life,” she said.
She helps patients celebrate the “little wins” every day and enjoys seeing the patients support each other and form friendships. “We have a box of Kleenex at graduation,” she said. “When I feel so proud and happy for someone, we have tears of joy.”
Even after they complete the rehabilitation program, some former patients stop by the office just to say hi or give an update on their progress. “You develop a relationship; I like that,” Quinlan said.
Her supervisor Amanda Pack said their patients come to them with life-threatening diagnoses, so there is often a fear factor to deal with. “We start low and slow,” she said. “We focus on fun here. We focus on laughter. Laughter is the best medicine.”
By making the rehabilitation process fun, Pack said it makes it feel less like a chore for the patient. She and Quinlan work with patients to set small, reasonable goals that are achievable, and they take the time to celebrate those little wins.
“It’s not about blaming people,” said Pack, nurse manager for outpatient and clinical operations. “It’s important to understand you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s about helping you learn how to do things in a very achievable manner.”
Even after 25 years, it never gets old
Susan Johnson came to Angel Medical Center nearly 25 years ago and works as an RN in the surgical services department. Being a nurse in the operating and emergency rooms, Johnson sees patients when they are experiencing some of their worst days, but she also gets to help them as they begin to heal. She says seeing an improvement in her patients’ lives makes her work fulfilling.
“I just love coming to work every day,” she said. “I’ve always enjoyed the teamwork. I’ve worked in OR and the ER and it’s never gotten old.”
Throughout her career she has seen many changes in technology, computer and information access, and many of the surgical procedures are much less invasive now. But it’s still the interaction with the patients and their families that is most rewarding part of her work.
She also enjoys the improved coordination amongst the hospital staff that has developed over the years. She said the old-school division of responsibilities is not as great now and there is more of a team environment. “You listen to anybody on your team,” she said.
She encourages new nurses to take the time to learn from instructors, nurses, doctors and other staff members. “Get as many experiences as you can,” she said. “Don’t be scared. The more you can learn, the better off you’ll be later.”
Nursing as a career
Both Quinlan and Johnson said there are many different career options for people in the nursing field.
“The wonderful thing I think about nursing is there’s so many different modalities of nursing,” Quinlan said. “You can go into surgery, you can go into labor and delivery, you can go into employee health. There’s so many different places that you can fit, and eventually you find your fit.”
Johnson said with the many opportunities in nursing someone has the option to work in one field for a while and then change to something else they find interesting.
“I think the versatility is just amazing in nursing,” Johnson said. “I really encourage people to go into nursing.”
Angel Medical Center employs about 120 nurses. “Nurses play a vital role in the day-to-day patient care of members of our community and the patients that we serve.” said Clint Kendall, Angel’s CEO and Chief Nursing Officer. “One of the biggest things that nurses do is provide passionate care and be that hand that reaches out in tougher times for the families and the patient. Balancing that with the technical portion of our job is amazing. Our community is blessed to have the caliber of nurses and the caliber of staff overall.”
Pack began her nursing career at Angel six years ago. “I have dedicated my career to Angel,” she said. “This is a community hospital with community members taking care of community members. I went to high school with half the nurses in that hospital. I went to nursing school with some of my own employers. It is a close-knit family that has roots here in Macon County. Some of the nurses working there now were born in that hospital. It is people who live here taking care of people who live here.”