Note: This post is the first of a two-part series. Click here to read the second post.
For 15 years in a row now, nurses have been ranked America’s #1 most trusted profession, perceived to have the highest standards for honesty and ethics according to the Gallup Poll. As a clinical manager who oversees a staff of pediatric home health care nurses, this comes as no surprise to me. We help medically fragile children grow and thrive at home and at school, and their parents come to trust us like part of the family.
Nurses are the people there with you in some of life’s most vulnerable moments. It takes a special kind of person to be your healer and advocate, especially in the intimate setting of someone’s home. I would venture to say that while the quality of your professional education and skills training is extremely important to attain clinical excellence, so too is an earnest, caring and compassionate spirit—and that’s something that’s born, not made.
Nursing like family
I work with a team of incredible individuals. We know each other’s spouses, parents, and children. We invest in our friendships, and we understand that when we come to work, we come as a whole person with all of our own blessings and burdens. Our whole team has a sense of family and concern for each other, and I believe those qualities—our BAYADA culture—are the catalysts for our success as a pediatric home health care office. Our patients can trust us because we trust each other.
Personally, I’ve stayed with BAYADA for 17 years now because of the trust I have in my company and in my colleagues. As a tight-knit team, we rally together just as a family would, to do whatever needs to be done for our patients. This is not a setting where you ever hear, “That’s not my job.” We’ve got each other’s backs.
As a clinical manager (CM), I oversee all aspects of my patients’ care. I assess their needs in the beginning, create a care plan for each child, stand ready to answer questions and support our nurses through their care and decision-making, and visit each home to supervise and update each care plan every 30 days.
That brings me to another big reason why I stay, maybe the biggest—it’s those moments I spend with the people we serve. The sweet child who tells me, “I love you,” or runs over to give me a pure, heartfelt hug. The parent I sit and talk with for an hour because she just needs to be heard and understood. Isn’t that what we all crave most as human beings? To be heard and understood.
It’s those tender moments, when we are fully present with each other, when I can help someone feel more at ease, and I just watch their body language relax and their anxiety melt away. When we truly impact a family, improve their quality of life, and I see in the flesh how our work has purpose and meaning. These tender moments are why I love what I do!
If you are interested in a career at a Home Health Care Agency, please click below.
About the Author:
Crystal Joan Lee, RN, has worked with BAYADA since 2000. Her goal is to ensure that BAYADA continues to provide the safest, highest quality care to our clients, while providing ongoing clinical support to the nurses who care for them.
Let Us Know What You Thought about this Post.
Put your Comment Below.