Education: Ivy Tech, Gary
Experience: In nursing for 20 years
Unit: Northlake Campus – 4-West: Med/Surg, Renal Floor
I went into nursing because I wanted to help people. And I just wanted to change some things in our community because I live in Gary and I saw a lot of illness around the area. So, I wanted to try to give back.
I love my patients. I like educating them, helping them turn their life around, and make lifestyle changes. I like when they get well and go home. Then, I’ll see them at the store or at the gas station. They always remember you if you made an impact. I chose renal because we need to educate our people better to avoid going on dialysis. I don’t think there’s a lot of education in the community for African Americans, and that’s why there are a lot of African Americans going into renal failure. Once I saw the need for education and, community with high blood pressure and what it does and everything, I wanted to do something to try to make a difference.
I came to Gary Campus specifically to try to reach out to people who look like me, so they would understand that I’m not just telling them something. I’m trying to help. We have so many people with renal failure and hypertension who don’t take their meds. And I hear it all the time. They won’t take their meds because of this, that, or the other, but I try to educate them so they can avoid being on dialysis or having further damage to their organs.
Our community needs strong nurses…black and white…to help save Black lives. Because they’re dying because we don’t have enough education, and we need more help. We need nurses, we need CNAs, we need phlebotomists, we need techs. We need help for the community to survive.
Methodist is like a small family. When you meet people here, their kind of like your sisters and brothers because everybody is so nice and helpful. When you see them, they smile and I think there’s a good, positive vibe here.
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