- Western
Connecticut State College, Class of 1977
- Bachelor
of Science in Nursing
- Saint
Joseph College, West Hartford, CT, Class 2005
- Master
of Science in Nursing Candidate
I have always
wanted to be a nurse for a long as I can remember.
For the first 10 years of my professional life I worked at New
Britain General Hospital on both the medical and surgical floors. I then
took a job at the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Connecticut in New
Britain doing what I enjoyed most doing in school: home care. I was a
primary nurse and case manager there for 11 years. I loved the fact that I
could take care of one patient at a time rather than having to run between
5 or 6 different patients as I did in the hospital.
I was able to have long-term relationships with many of my patients
and sometimes their families as well.
After
about 11 years of working there full time, I had a sense of wanting to do
something different, but was not sure what. In retrospect, I realized that
the most fulfilling part of my job was when I was supporting a patient or
a family member in dealing with the challenge at hand. It was through this
insight that I decided that I wanted to go back for my Master's degree in
Psychiatric Nursing. While I never forgot the mantra of my baccalaureate
program’s nursing professors of "when you get your master's,"
it took me 20 years to figure out in what area I would do that.
While
I loved my job and my patients at the VNA, the paperwork load was
incompatible with trying to get a Master's, so I looked for a job in
psychiatric nursing that would allow the flexibility to go back to school.
My first job was working the 7PM to 7AM shift every Saturday and Sunday on
the adolescent unit at what was then known as Elmcrest Psychiatric
Hospital. Having worked with adults, particularly older adults for most of
my nursing career, I did not have much experience with adolescents. I
figured I could cope with anything for only four hours since they would be
sleeping the other eight hours. Much to my surprise, I found that I really
enjoyed working with this age group both there and later at the Institute
of Living where I took a job on the adolescent unit and worked for 16
action-packed hours every weekend. During my time in both places (5 years
total), I have worked with adolescents, and sometimes children with a
variety of challenges and have found that even though they are all
different at the same time their needs are very much the same.
In
2002, when it came time to do my clinical experience at Saint Joseph, I
wanted a site where I could work with children and their families. FOCUS
was one of the site options, so I went to FOCUS for an interview. The
home-like atmosphere was something of a surprise after having worked in an
institutional setting. I felt that their different philosophy of working
with children matched my own style better than other settings might. I
quickly became involved in the life of FOCUS and was given a wide variety
of learning opportunities. I did my entire two years of clinical
experience at FOCUS (including one summer in the Summer Program). I was
thrilled when Donna wanted to keep me on once my clinical practicum was
completed. A year after being hired at FOCUS, I completed my Master's
Degree in Psychiatric Nursing and graduated in May, 2005
I love working directly with the children at FOCUS and
their families. Both my home care experiences and some of my work at the
Institute have helped to prepare me for working with families. I am just
as at ease meeting with someone at FOCUS as I am at his or her home.
Part of my role is to work with families in their homes. I also love
being with the kids and interacting with them in the milieu. Some of
the best opportunities for working on social skills might be while wading
in the middle of the stream in Donna's back yard in the summer guiding two
young people in working together to catch "crawdads" (which we
always let go of at the end of the day).
FOCUS is also a
place where I can use my creativity. I designed an "adventure
quest" for the Girls' Group my first year here as a student that was
greatly enjoyed by the group. I also wear a couple of different
"hats" here. In my first summer at FOCUS, I earned the
nickname "Mother Goose" because of the very broad-brimmed hat I
wore against the sun. My other hat is as the clown-in-residence,
Acorn, who makes special appearances at special FOCUS events.
Acorn is a silent clown and provides many rich opportunities for
the kids to communicate and be with someone so different.
I
am looking forward to my ongoing role at FOCUS. I enjoy greatly the kids
that I work with, and find that the families are the best families
anywhere, dedicated to helping their children succeed in the world.
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