Hi my name is Lora Lysne and I am an admission's nurse at St. Mary's Care Center in Madison WI. I am honored and excited and proud to be here with you today.
I have worked for the Care Center for 17 years in many different roles. I began as a CNA and worked as one for 2 years. Thanks to the encouragement of friends, family, co-workers, and supervisors, I pursued nursing school. St. Mary's was very supportive, not only with a flexible schedule, but also with tuition reimbursement. Once I graduated, I worked as a team-nurse and proudly took ownership of the unit that I worked on. I developed many valuable friendships with residents, their families and the staff in my role; it is what I value most in my job.
As an admissions nurse, I am the "first impression" of St. Mary's Care Center - and I take this responsibility to heart. This is a very stressful time for many residents and their families, and I want to make it as easy and stress free for them as possible. In my experience, it's the little things that really make the difference. I like to find out what will really delight each resident and then pass this on to the rest of the team. Sometimes things don't go smoothly- maybe there's a delay or a room isn't ready or the family arrives already upset about something. My philosophy is that I know I can turn the situation around. I feel empowered as an employee to take action to remedy the situation. Many times, my admissions end with hugs from families or residents who are just grateful to have everything taken care of.
One example that demonstrates that feeling of empowerment happened recently. As you may know, in 2002, the Care Center moved to a new state of the art facility minus one important detail. . . .no TV in the residents' rooms. Who can live without TV? Certainly not me! New residents and their families were shocked when they came in and realized there was no television. I immediately took this concern to Administration. I was told time and time again, "it was not in the budget." But I would not give up. I was not going to let a little detail like the budget stand in the way of my residents' well-being! I was persistent. I would not give up being the advocate for the residents' happiness. I was the squeaky wheel, until finally we received approval to purchase t.v.'s for all the residents in October of 2007. I never gave up and I'm really proud of this accomplishment that directly impacted the lives of the residents I serve.
A particularly special memory of mine from the Care Center involves a former nurse, Kay Simpson. Kay had always been a role model to me. She embodied patience, gentleness, and kindness, but she really got things done! One day she pulled me aside to thank me for being a role model to her daughter, Jenny, who was currently working as a CNA with us. Jenny, after a short time at the Care Center, decided to pursue nursing school. It was incredible to hear one of my mentors thank me for being a role model. It was a great moment for me and one that I will never forget.
Standing before you today, I can honestly say that I never set out or even once thought about being a "courageous leader" or an inspiration to others. I just did the job I loved in the best way I knew how for the residents and staff I care about. So my challenge to you is to never give up on what you believe in if it's the best thing for your patients. Good things will follow and you may just inspire someone along the way. It doesn't get much better than that.
Thank you.
