In honor of National Hospital Week, Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center is celebrating the dedicated individuals who power our hospital with compassion and expertise. Each day, we’re featuring an employee who makes a meaningful impact behind the scenes and at the bedside.
What is your title and unit/department?
I am the OR nurse manager. Truly, I am the perioperative services manager, as I oversee Same Day Surgery (admitting/PACU), the Operating Room, Pre-Admission Testing (PAT), Central Sterile Reprocessing, and Registration for the OR. I wear many hats, true to form as a MAHHC member!
When did you start at MAHHC?
I started in October of 2011 as a staff RN in the Operating Room. I completed AORN’s Periop 101 course up at DHMC and then came to MAHHC to work.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
Being an OR staff nurse was the most rewarding time in my nursing career. I looked forward to my work every day. As the manager, my focus is setting my teams up for success in the complex care environment of surgery. I have shifted my perspective to being more of a circulator for the Perioperative unit. I ensure we have the equipment, instrumentation, skilled staff, knowledge, workflows and communication in place to provide for the surgical needs of the community in which I live. I enjoy hearing feedback from our patients that they enjoyed their procedure with us!
What’s something that you’ve accomplished that you’re proud of?
I have built a team who cares for patients and each other with a tangible level of respect, caring, hard work, and enjoyment in what we do. They are the people I want to work with and to care for my loved ones.
What’s something that most people don’t know about your role?
The nursing process (assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation) is the benchmark which guides both my clinical care and the project management aspect of running Perioperative Services. Nursing gives a framework to approach either a capital investment project or helping a patient be optimized for their surgical procedure.