What attracted you to nursing?

I fell in love with nursing because of my mom. She is a retired Registered Nurse. She worked in the local hospital in the community in which I grew up.  She was a constant source of support to our neighbors and anyone who needed her. We would often be in our local supermarket, mall, gas station etc.. and someone would come up to us and say to her “Hi do you remember me?”  She would always respond “You look familiar” and they would tell a story of how my mom impacted them during their time of need as a patient on her floor. People were always thanking her and hugging her. I remember looking up at her thinking how lucky I was to have a mom like her and deciding that I wanted to have that sort of impact on people.

Why do you stay at YAI?

YAI has brought some of the most amazing people I have ever known into my life. I started as a DSP in the 90s while I was in nursing school. I believe I was one of the first, if not the first DSP to become a nurse and go right in to a nursing role within the organization. I had so many great leaders supporting me to reach my educational goals. The people I had the opportunity to support would often cheer me on when they knew I had an exam coming. Throughout my career I have had a tremendous amount of support from my supervisors,  coordinators, and peers. You do not typically find this level of support in other areas of nursing. Here you are encouraged to use your skills to inform nursing practice rather than just follow orders. I have been able to develop trainings like our fall curriculum that has helped to shape the way we support people where falls is an issue. I appreciate the support I have here.

What is one of your most memorable moments?

Working at 35th street gives me great joy. I am always inspired by the people we support and the staff that work there. One challenge we have faced is getting Medicaid and Medicare to pay for wheelchairs. It’s a tedious process that can take a long time. 

We decided that every time someone got a new wheelchair, we would have a wheelchair party; complete with balloons, a cake, etc. One person that lives there is often characterized by hospital clinicians as “comatose”. He is no longer able to be very expressive or use words to communicate so this is how hospital personnel would describe him. They do not believe he has the ability to take in anything in his surroundings. 

He was finally approved for a new wheelchair and went out with the staff to pick it up. While he was out, we decorated, blew up balloons, laid everything out for a party. When he returned, we met him at the door and started applauding, whistling, dancing, and congratulating him on his new chair. He opened his eyes very wide and began looking around. I had never seen him react this way before. He then displayed the biggest grin I had ever seen! I was amazed! It was such a testimony that what we do matters, the people we support hear, feel, and experience the things we do even if they cannot always express it in the way we would expect. He was so happy, we were all so happy and it solidified for me why I am here.