When did you graduate from HHS and where did you go from there?
I graduated from HHS in 2012 and then attended the University of Michigan School of Nursing. I currently work as a nurse on the Neurosurgery/Neurology/Stroke unit at University of Michigan Hospital.
Tell us about the company you work for?
I work for the University of Michigan Health System, which is currently ranked #6 in the nation and the #1 hospital in the state of Michigan by U.S. News & World Report. At U of M patient safety always comes first, our nurse to patient ratios are excellent. Since U of M is a teaching hospital, education and research are also top priorities at the hospital. At least once a week a world-renowned doctor gives a lecture on a topic that all staff is invited to attend. Being a well-known hospital, we get a lot of patients who come with very rare conditions for treatments that few other hospitals provide; it’s amazing to get to care for people with conditions that most will only read about. It is always encouraged for nurses to attend educational conferences outside of work and bring back new information to their unit. It is a privilege to work somewhere that is so committed to furthering education and making sure the way we are doing things is evidence-based. While these are all reasons I enjoy working for U of M now, they are not the reason I wanted to work for U of M in the first place. When I was in 2nd grade, U of M saved my mom’s life when she was diagnosed with an advanced stage of breast cancer. I accompanied her to a few appointments and since then I have not only wanted to be a nurse, but a University of Michigan nurse. It is a dream come true for me to get to work everyday at the very place that my mom received her lifesaving treatments.
What does your workday look like?
I am a nurse on a neurology/neurosurgery/stroke unit specializing in patients with complex neurologic diseases, injuries, and deficits. This encompasses disorders regarding the brain, spine and neuromuscular system. We have a large variety of patients. They may come straight from the emergency department, from the operating room, or from the intensive care unit. I work 12 hours shifts, both days and nights. After I get a report, I make a decision on the order in which I do a full body assessment of my patients by who is the most critical to the most stable. A full body assessment is done on each patient once per shift, vital signs are done every 2-4 hours and since I work on a neuro floor, neuro checks are done every 2-4 hours as well. If I notice any changes in the patient from what the previous shift saw it is my responsibility to let the doctors know. Most of our doctors are great, but if a doctor doesn’t think an issue with my patient is a concern and I do, I advocate for my patient to get them the tests/treatment that I think is appropriate. After I assess my patients, I administer medications; I make sure that each medication is appropriate for each patient at that time based on my assessment and their vital signs. Each day I administer meds via multiple different routes, through feeding tubes, orally, subcutaneous injections or intravenous. Throughout the day I am communicating with all members of the care team, from the physical therapists, the discharge planners, the social workers, the doctors and the family members. Every day we have rounds where the nurses present their patients to a room full of all members of the care team so that everyone is on the same page with the plan for each individual patient. Each day is different and I could not predict the things I will do on a given day if I tried. Some days I rush a patient down to the CT scanner after a new neuro change. Sometimes I emergently administer IV medication to bring my patient’s dangerously high heart rate or blood pressure down; sometimes I have to call security on a patient or family member who is behaving aggressively. There are days I get bodily fluids on my scrubs and have to change mid shift. Since I work on a neuro floor, we have a lot of confused patients; some days I have a confused patient who swears at me, attempts to kick, hit and bite me every time I provide care. I have spent an hour reassuring my patient through the speaker in an MRI so that the doctors could get the imaging they wanted and my scared patient would stay still the whole time. Frequently I run to a seizure alarm to find a patient completely blue and have to apply oxygen, suction their mouth, maintain safety and reassure their family member at the bedside while another nurse runs to grab an IV medication to stop their seizure. Some days I have to rush a declining patient to the ICU or, if they are already pulseless, perform chest compressions and hit the code blue button. I frequently care for patients who don’t speak English. I have very roughly attempted to ask a Japanese speaking patient the orientation questions (part of a neuro assessment) in Japanese (I’m sure I butchered it), but the patient was able to understand enough to answer and I was able to assess that his neuro status was unchanged. While a big part of my everyday is assessing patients, administering medications, blood, and tube feeds, suctioning tracheostomies, turning patients, doing dressing changes, monitoring cardiac rhythms and titrating medication drips, my favorite part of my job is being a support and resource for my patients and their families. As a patient, the hospital is scary and there are a lot of unknowns. Being a top hospital, a lot of our patients are many hours away from home and a lot of times come to our unit with major deficits and are unable to do simple things that they could do for themselves hours earlier. I have taken care of presidents of major companies who developed aggressive brain tumors that stole their ability to even count to ten. I have helped my bed bound patient surprise his wife with flowers for her birthday since he couldn’t get them himself. I have rejoiced with patients/families when they are able to speak for the first time since their stroke. I have taken a patient who was on our unit for over a month outside so they could feel the sunshine that they hadn’t felt in so long. I have held the hand of a patient and prayed with them as they received the news that they only had a month left to live. I have assisted in providing the best possible death for comfort care patients and listened as their families told stories about his/her life. I have held the hand of and sat with a comfort care patient as they took their last breath when their family had left for the day so they wouldn’t go alone. I have also hugged and cried tears of joy with a patient who walked out of the hospital after discharge who had just days before come in unable to move one side of their body due to a stroke but because of the quick response to their symptoms and our administration of TPA they were able to go home without deficits. My job makes me aware of how precious the gift of life is and really puts into perspective what is important and what is not. Despite some days being more difficult than others and leaving most days exhausted, I truly love what I do and love having the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others.
What was your time at HHS like?
I loved my time at HHS, I was very involved in sports, clubs and developed great friendships. All of the teachers were very helpful and truly cared about the well being of their students in and out of the classroom.
How did you time at HHS help you now?
Being involved in so many different clubs and activities in high school helped me to want to be involved at work. I am on many different committees at work and I don’t think I would have had the desire to be involved if I didn’t see the impact these groups made at HHS.
Is there a teacher who had a significant impact on your life?
Mrs. Wells was one of the hardest teachers/coaches I had in high school. I believe we grow the most by going through difficult experiences, and this definitely happened to me in Mrs. Wells’ classes/practices. She challenged me inside the classroom, on the volleyball court and in life to be the best person I could. She modeled the importance of working hard, setting and achieving goals but that the most important thing you can be is a good person, and that it is possible to do all simultaneously.
Advice for current students?
The people you surround yourself with are so important in shaping the person you will become. Choose friends who truly want the best for you, hold you accountable to your values and are there for you consistently. Be that kind of friend to others too. Life is going to be hard at times and you are going to want people surrounding you who are not only fun to dance with at parties but who also will drop everything to be there for you when you experience hardships in life. I have felt the impact of having amazing friends like this surrounding me and I am so thankful I chose to nourish relationships that built and continue to build me up.
Anything else?
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about U of M or the nursing profession in general! If you are very interested in nursing I would be happy to arrange a job shadow so you could come and see for yourself the types of things nurses do on a daily basis.
