Stories of Florence Nightingale’s compassion, bravery, and leadership have shaped modern nursing and influenced and inspired millions. As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of her birth, we are honored to shine a light on today’s #NurseHeroes on the front lines by sharing some of their stories.
This is Stan’s story.
“Nursing does not stop after you finish nursing school. I encourage all nurses to continue their education. ”
Describe why you chose to become a nurse
I chose to become a nurse by accident. I was going to get my masters in microbiology when a colleague of mine said “you should go into nursing”, “you are great with patients”. I became an LPN first to see if I was any good at it or if I would enjoy being a nurse. I will tell you it was the most challenging and rewarding career on earth. I continued to get my RN, then my ANCC certificate in psychiatric nursing and am now enrolled at Walden University working on my Masters for psychiatric APN.
Describe your most rewarding day on the job
The most rewarding day on the job is seeing how medications do change the lives of so many of our schizophrenics and bipolar patients. I see them come in psychotic, and after a few days of therapy, they are a different person.
Describe your most challenging day on job
My most challenging day on the job is dealing with homicidal psychotic patients. However, after years of training, even they can get better after treatment.
Do you have any nurse hacks or lessons learned in the field you would like to share with others?
The most important lesson I learned as a nurse is to take good care of your patients. They put their lives in your hands every day and the least we can do is make sure they are safe and be respectful.
What’s a favorite quote of yours?
My favorite quote is “lets save some lives!”
Anything else you’d like to share?
I would like to share one other thing. Nursing does not stop after you finish nursing school. I encourage all nurses to continue their education. In my opinion the definition of a graduate is someone who has made it through, but is not through making it. We never stop learning.
For those looking for a way to help others, is there a charity you suggest?
My favorite charity has always been my church here in Cranbury New Jersey. All the money goes to our mission in Guatemala and I know, as discussed in our yearly mission visits, the money is well spent and appreciated.
Thank you for all you do, Stan!
Do you have a story to share?
While our team at ShiftWizard believes all nurses are heroes, we’d like to hear who you feel has gone above and beyond. Help us honor a fellow nurse or nurse leader whose actions have inspired others in these unprecedented times, and let’s celebrate nursing together!
Did you know that ShiftWizard significantly lowers staffing costs for healthcare organizations?
These are incredibly challenging times for nurses as well as the organizations they serve, and there’s no better time to learn how ShiftWizard can deliver significant cost savings and best prepare your team for success. One client saved over two million dollars in overtime costs within the first eight months with ShiftWizard.
Our industry-leading workforce management solution is quick to implement and was developed by nurses— it is built specifically for healthcare and solves the complexities of scheduling staff for any department within a hospital. And, especially for times like these, our powerful communication center excels at getting messages (text, email, and automated calls) to staff securely and quickly, maximizing accountability and teamwork.
We are honored to support our frontline teams and we are here to help you meet your challenges head on.
Send your nurse story to us at info@shiftwizard.com or let us know how we can help you.
