For information contact

Mary Pat Elsen

St. Clare Hospital

608 356-1551

mary_pat_elsen@ssmhc.com

Baraboo. . . Thirty years ago, Maria Hansa wanted to change the world. An idealistic young woman, she envisioned herself as someone who could bring an enlightened image of local and world events into clear view. At the time, broadcast journalism seemed like it would be a good fit.

Instead, she followed her heart and pursued a degree in nursing. She knew early on that she wanted to be at the bed side of women in labor and delivery. And she has been working in obstetrics in various capacities since her graduation in 1979 – for the past 18 years as a staff nurse and lactation consultant at St. Clare Hospital’s Childbirth Center.

“I’m not so young, not so naïve, but in many ways, still pretty idealistic. Nursing is one field where you CAN have it all,” Hansa wrote in an essay about her health care career. “You can truly use your heart, your hands and your intellect to make the world a better place. One person at a time, one day at a time, right here, right now.”

Hansa knows that her nursing skills make a difference every single day.

“Sometimes it’s as I help a laboring woman by staying by her side, showing her ways to find her own strength,” Hansa said. “Sometimes it’s when I help interpret the complicated lingo of the medical world to those who don’t speak it. And sometimes it is when I’m doing the most menial of tasks, like bathing someone’s feet.

“From the simple to the complex, it’s always worth it. I made a good choice…and I did get the opportunity to be a world changer.”

Hansa joined 68 other hospital employees from across the state that were honored at the 2007 Wisconsin Health Care Employee Pride Program recognition dinner at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells.

The program, sponsored by the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA), is designed to celebrate the health care workforce and recognize their “truly amazing” contributions to the health of their communities, according to Wisconsin Hospital Association President Steve Brenton.

“People who work in hospitals are among Wisconsin’s most dedicated and valuable employees. It takes special people to care for others and our communities are richer, safer, and healthier places to live because of these professionals,” Brenton added. “Whether they are on the front lines, or supporting those who deliver patient care, every health care employee helps improve the health care status in the community where they live and work.”

Employees were asked to describe what led them to choose an occupation in health, and why they decided to work in a hospital. Hundreds of health care employees submitted essays. A committee at each health care facility selected the winning essay, and that person was honored at the recognition banquet on April 26.

Maria Hansa’s Essay

Thirty years ago I made a decision that surprised me.  I decided to go to nursing school.  Originally, nursing seemed like such a stereotypical women’s occupation to me. . .and that wasn’t how I envisioned myself.  I was young, idealistic. . .and rather naïve.  Some warned that my views would change over the years.  Of course they did . . . and yet they didn’t.

I wanted to be world change, to help bring an enlightened image of local and world events into clear view, so that more people would base their decisions on fact rather than misassumptions or misinterpretations.  So I thought the world of broadcast journalism might be for me, or something equally exotic.

I’m not so young, not so naïve, but in many ways still pretty idealistic.  I just came to realize that people are impacted at least as much by how they feel at a sensory level as by what they know intellectually.  I also know that nursing is one field where you CAN have it all.  You can truly use your heart, your hands and your intellect o make the world a better place.  One persona at a time, one day at a time, right here, right now.

Sometimes it’s as I help a laboring woman by staying right by her side, showing her ways to find her own strength, gently nurturing her so she will not fear the giant step she is taking into motherhood.  Sometimes it is when I help a non-English speaking patient and family feel not so strange in this new land they have come to.  Sometimes it is when I’m pulled to another part of the hospital and sit at the side of an elderly man or woman and listen to their confused ramblings as the night closes in around them and they long for their own bed . . . and their younger bodies and minds.  Sometimes it is when I’m learning the latest in technological developments or when I help interpret the complicated lingo of the medical world to those who don’t speak it.  And sometimes it is when doing the most menial of tasks, like bathing someone’s feet or cleaning that which they can’t any longer.

From the simple to the complex, it’s always worth it.  I made a good choice . . . and I did get the opportunity to be a world changer.