In honor of Nurses Week, we’re highlighting some of the incredible nurses who bring compassion, dedication, and expertise to our team every day. Learn more about one of our nurses, Lily Burke, RN, below!
What is your title and unit/department?
I’m the lead RN in the MAH Pediatric Clinic.
When did you start at MAHHC?
June of 2016.
Why did you decide to become a nurse?
In my personal life, I saw how quickly someone’s identity could be completely lost to the medical event they were going through. In almost no time, their sense of self was totally consumed by the focus on the physical situation, the biological mechanics that were dominating the experience. In nurses, I observed how something as small as soft toy tucked into an MRI, a favorite audiobook, or being taken out into the sun kept the patient’s humanity alive. I wanted to be part of making sure people didn’t disappear.
What interested you in your particular specialty?
I knew I was going to work with families and children in some way (I was never going to be an ICU or OR nurse). I graduated nursing school during the 2008/2009 crash, and the only interview I got (out of 17+ applications all over the country) was as a one-on-one pedi high tech nurse with Visiting Nurses. That led to maternal child health home visiting, and that led me to the Mt. Ascutney Pediatric Clinic. My specialty is active listening and observing/engaging with families as they are. Then using these observations to design systems within our clinic multidisciplinary team that honor the unique individuality of the child/family and enable families to use their inherent strengths to take ownership of their own health and wellbeing.
What’s your favorite thing about being a nurse?
When a parent or child smiles and takes a deep breath, and the room/call feels lighter because a fear or worry is lifted away.
What’s a moment from your career that sticks out to you?
The child from my pedi high-tech days is coming off his ventilator. He is 16 years old now and attending school. (He can sink baskets in basketball; I can’t do that!)
What’s something your colleagues don’t know about you?
If I wasn’t a nurse, I would be an architect.