As a little girl, I always looked up to my mom as a role model. She worked very hard to become a nurse, graduating Nursing School in 1996. I knew in kindergarten that I wanted to follow the same path as my mom. Fast forward, years later I too graduated from Nursing School and soon after that so did my older sister. I started my career in Geriatrics and she started hers in corrections. We eventually moved to Georgia where she started working for SHP. She would talk about how great the company she works for is and how supported she felt, while I would be complaining about feeling the nursing burnout. My sister tried several times to get me to change my career path and start in the correctional nursing path but I never that it would be for me. My sister started learning more and more about her job and got promoted to MTA. I was so proud of my sister thriving and advancing in her career.
One day it happened, I became so burned out with Nursing I started applying to jobs that were not in the medical field. I didn’t love what I was doing anymore and I wanted anything but nursing. Then I decided that I had nothing to lose and took my sisters advice and tried correctional nursing. I fell in love with Nursing again! After twelve years I found a company that actually supports their nurses, where I can use my scope of practice to the fullest extent. One of my favorite parts is being able to watch my older sister thrive. When she is at work she is in her element. She is compassionate and fair and always knows her stuff. When I have questions, she is willing to answer them and also tells me which binder I can reference with. Out of friendly competition, I find myself trying to soak in as much as I can so I can give her a good run for her money!
“My inspiration is to be great everyday both outside of work and at work with my older sister, Heather M. I am grateful for her convincing me to try corrections and introducing me to SHP!”