Nurses are astute clinicians often endowed with a keen helping of intuitive discernment. This ability to sense that something is wrong — or about to go wrong — has likely saved countless patients’ lives over centuries of nursing care. Whatever it is and wherever it comes from, a nurse’s intuition is something we can choose to pay heed to and to increasingly nurture, sharpen, and trust as the years go by.
The Nurse’s “Spidey-sense”
When I was in nursing school for my associate’s degree, I had a professor who was a long-time nurse of considerable skill and knowledge. She was an excellent storyteller (always a good attribute in an effective teacher), and I remember several of her stories today.
One story that stands out is when she described what it’s like when you’ve been a nurse long enough that your nurse’s intuition is a reliable tool of clinical assessment and nursing “air traffic control.” The air traffic she referred to was the constant barrage of information and data coming at you from all sides. When your intuition is allowed to live and breathe, those inner feelings of knowing can sometimes mean the difference between making an excellent clinical judgment call rather than possibly missing the mark.
The professor often referred to this power as a nurse’s Spidey-sense, akin to the inner radar-like warning system with which Spider-Man was so well-equipped. If you’re familiar with this comic book phenomenon, what would have happened to Spider-Man so many times if he’d dismissed his Spidey-sense as just so much mental noise? He may have been attacked unawares, missed the opportunity to save a helpless citizen in distress, or otherwise ignored a clear signal that it was time to perk up the ears and swing into action once the source of his inner tingle could be determined.
(Another story my professor told was one where she and her husband were in bed being rather amorous, and she developed a sudden-onset headache. Paying attention to the signs, she realized that his nitroglycerin patch had come unglued from his arm. She affixed itself to her, thus flooding her body with the medicine, dilating her blood vessels, and causing a splitting headache. While this wasn’t exactly her nurse’s intuition, her clinical judgment was unclouded enough to realize something was wrong, and she could remove the patch and relieve her symptoms. If memory serves, we teased her mercilessly about this story for quite some time. But I digress.)
Listening for the “Tingle”
In the Spider-Man comic books, I recall his Spidey-sense being graphically shown by the artist using squiggly lines emanating from Spider-Man’s head like an energetic crown as he picked up on something not being quite right in the air around him.
There are schools of energy medicine where this might be referred to as disturbances in “the field,” some nurses who have practiced meditation, Reiki, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, martial arts, or other endeavors may readily understand what this type of energy and experience signifies.
Anyone can learn to listen to their intuition, and certain practices and techniques can strengthen intuition. However, one thing that intuition calls for is for us to listen to its call when it happens. For some, it might be a tingle in or around the head like Spider-Man; for others, it might be a chill down the spine, the hairs on the back of the neck pricking up, or perhaps gooseflesh up and down the arms. Or maybe it might simply be an inner knowing — perhaps that still small voice noted in the Bible — that something isn’t right.
Whatever form in which it comes, the well-trained nurse with keen clinical skills, considerable knowledge, and the wisdom to listen to the tingle of their intuition may very well save a life, catch an error, prevent a patient from crashing, or otherwise save the day because they took the time to tune in.
Don’t Ignore It — Nurture It
A nurse’s intuition isn’t something that can be effectively taught in a nursing textbook or lecture. Still, the nurse interested in learning to trust their inner knowing can use that skill to become a highly successful clinician and a powerful healer.
We can ignore that still small voice inside of us — perhaps at our peril or that of our patients — or we can choose to nurture, feed, and water it. As thoughtful nurses, we can make sure that when a tingle of recognition of a problem or danger arises, we’ll be more likely to pay attention to the signs, listen carefully, and take action when action is called for.
If your nurse’s Spidey-sense occasionally sets you alight like a flashing signal at a dangerous railroad crossing, learn to focus your attention and use it to be a more effective clinician and a more successful nurse.
Minority Nurse is thrilled to feature Keith Carlson, “Nurse Keith,” a well-known nurse career coach and podcaster of The Nurse Keith Show as a guest columnist. Check back every other Thursday for Keith’s column.
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My career in pre-licensure nursing education started in 1986. As a professor at Capital Community College in Hartford, Connecticut, I have taught and learned much in the last 20-plus years. I have had the privilege to teach students from the immediate Hartford and greater Hartford areas, Mexico, the Caribbean, and several countries in South America, Europe, Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. During a recent data-gathering project as part of a teaching innovation, students at my college were asked to self-disclose on race/ethnicity, gender, and age. The Class of 2013 in nursing was 15% African American, 11.1% Hispanic, and 5.5% Asian. The students’ predominant (46%) age range was 25 to 34 years old, and 12.7% of the students were male. Reflections on this rich student sample resulted in my personal list of the following top 10 teaching lessons that I have learned.
1. Examine your words carefully, both verbally and in writing.
I re-examine the words that I use in class or the college laboratory for double meanings. Common words such as “stoop” or “duck” are examples. If words can have more than one meaning, then I need to check in with the students to ensure that my message is clear. This is important when writing test questions. Some years ago, a student challenged the use of the words “granola bar.” This student was from Africa and did not know the type of food termed “granola.” My assumption was invalid, and now it is described as a cereal bar in a subsequent nutrition question.
2. Students may come from cultures where English is not their first language.
Also, students’ pre-collegiate educational preparation may not have been in English. However, students still need literacy skills to meet current health care expectations. Written assignments can strengthen skills and identify the few students who might need assistance from the Academic Success Center related to literacy. Having students lead a post-conference is another educational technique that can strengthen verbal fluency. An excellent student from Columbia who had the ability to lead was reticent to contribute verbally. Exposing students to group speaking validates their knowledge and boosts confidence. During last year’s spring semester, I looked around the conference table as students from Columbia, Puerto Rico, Poland, and the United States supported and enriched the clinical experience for each other. Having students give verbal reports to other health care givers or give mock reports over the phone to each other helps boost their fluency and confidence.
3. Recognize the cultural background that each student brings with him or her.
A student from Chile shared that when someone in her community was hospitalized the expectation was all family, friends, and neighbors would visit. It helped me to acknowledge and share that multiple visitors in a hospitalized patient’s room may be viewed as respect—not an assault on privacy or expediency.
A student from China offered up her cultural upbringing concerning the use of hot or cold foods related to a specific condition. There are two things that I have taken from this. Firstly, the reinforcement of alternative therapies such as heat and cold may be used before the prevalent dash to a pharmacological intervention. Secondly, it is an opportunity to encourage nursing students to assess the patient’s use of cultural therapies to ameliorate or cure a condition.
4. Appreciating the cultural background influences the teacher and student interaction.
A student from the Philippines would not look me in the eye as I was giving her feedback on a nursing procedure on campus. What could be interpreted as lack of engagement and assertiveness was a demonstration of her respect for someone who was in an authority position. Her comments to me opened the door for more substantial communication and a discussion of communication expectations in her role in the US.
5. Because of the college’s diversity, a number of students are the first in their family to pursue a college education.
Last year, a student from Vietnam shared that she was the only one in her group of friends who started the pre-requisite courses and who subsequently earned an Associate Degree in Nursing. As her advisor, I congratulated her on this significant accomplishment. I reviewed her resume at her request and went over sample questions for a hiring interview. This student’s paper was presented as an exemplar work in the nursing pharmacology course.
It is important, however, not to make this generalization. I taught a student from Albania whose parents were both educators. She was fluent in Albanian, French, and Italian prior to coming to this country. She worked in a bakery and lived above it until she mastered English. It was important to this student that I was aware of her personal history. She completed the Associate Degree, has since earned a Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing, and has been a homeowner for the last few years.
Another student from Bosnia privately shared her experiences during the war and the compelling reasons for her relocation to America. I often forget to acknowledge how nursing education is an important part in the process of achieving a student’s dream. I have learned to appreciate this important part in the student’s journey.
6.The student population that mirrors the cultural diversity in the community is an asset.
The health care setting is enriched when there is less difference among the caregivers and the care recipients. The selection of clinical sites that reflect the diversity in the community is important. It reinforces the concepts of physical assessment findings consistent with ethnicity. It reinforces the embracing of humanity that will serve the students well in their careers. My clinical site at the Hospital of Central Connecticut at New Britain General Hospital has three predominant languages: English, Spanish, and Polish. Patient-teaching material is available in all three languages, and staff is often bilingual. Patient compliance with the treatment plan is promoted with these approaches. While the hospital subscribes to a telephone language line, the immediacy of material provides culturally competent care. The diversity at the clinical site provides a lived learning experience.
7. Increase the use of pictures and videos in your teaching to reflect the diversity in the community and the student population.
My colleagues and I review textbooks and media that include cultural considerations. The nursing laboratory on campus has mannequins that represent virtual patients of diverse race/ethnicity and across the lifespan. Audio in any language can be uploaded to the human patient simulator to support cultural competency. Some cultural topics are anticipated, such as teaching about the cultural differences related to the epidemiology of tuberculosis. Other cultural topics are not as obvious, such as examining evidence-based literature to look for diversity in the study sample. For example, when I teach about nursing care of a person with a burn injury, I include pictures of burn survivors with lighter and darker complexions. In completing an online module on medication reconciliation, I was mindful to include pictures of persons from many ethnicities.
8. Students are taught to be lifelong learners.
There is benefit in my position as a role model for students related to continuing education. I started as an AD graduate in the 1970s. Progressing from a BSN in the 1980s to a Master’s in the 1990s, I completed a Doctorate in Nursing Practice in 2013. I can empathize with students about the joys and challenges of working while continuing along the educational path. Since faculty members do not usually graduate with advanced degrees, students may benefit from hearing about our personal journey in the education process. However, I challenge students to shorten the timeline for meeting advanced educational goals. Providing dual enrollment in the AD and RN-to-BSN programs is one way to promote advanced education. A local university has invited students to sit in on Bachelor’s degree level classes. With support from my colleagues, I have learned to introduce advancing education early and often.
9. Faculty’s improvement in teaching results from formal education and outside experience.
Formal education classes address strategies for teaching with diversity in learning styles, age, and culture. Education conferences or seminars are another mechanism for self-improvement. However, I have learned differently from travel experiences. On a nursing delegation to South Africa, I observed care at a rural HIV/AIDS clinic at Groote Schuur Hospital, which was the site of the first heart transplant, and visited a sangoma, the local healer. On a stay at a cattle station in the Australian outback, I learned about rural primary health care. On a trip to Costa Rica, I learned that some Americans receive care there for lower cost and comparable quality. Certification as a Reiki Master Teacher has provided me with another option to offer comfort to patients.
10. Appreciate the teaching and learning experience with a diverse student population.
I have taught students with a wide range of educational preparation. The spectrum has ranged from students with a GED in lieu of a high school diploma to a professor of economics who pursued nursing to give back to the Latino community. All nursing educators who teach a diverse student body deserve to be celebrated. Various and multiple teaching strategies are utilized by educators who teach students between the ages of 19 to over 50 years; students who balance the demands of school, work, and family; and students who bring different backgrounds to their nursing education. I admit to times of frustration, but the multiple teaching strategies can produce significant learning for students and teachers. This last lesson occurs over time after the other lessons have been internalized.
These 10 items are not meant only as a summary of lessons learned but rather a vehicle to amplify the concepts and expand the list in the future. There are many opportunities for more lessons to be learned. Embracing new technologies such as virtual, online health settings is an area for growth. The use of creative assignments such as video production, Wiki sites, or social media are areas for further learning by educators. Systematic review of the curriculum for content, learning activities, and assessment methods will continue to ensure optimal outcomes are met for all students. As a teacher, I look forward to the new lessons I will learn from the students.
Leona Konieczny, DNP, MPH, RN-BC, is a professor at Capital Community College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Unlike many professionals these days, nurses can launch a job search with the confidence that they will find work–and quickly, at that. Thanks to one of the most severe nursing shortages in history, good nurses are in high demand all over the country. Hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices, nursing homes and surgical centers are all looking for skilled clinicians from diverse racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds who have a way with people and, often, specialized skills in areas like critical care, perioperative nursing and neonatal care.
But if you are in the market for a new job in 2004, or even a whole new career, look beyond the usual opportunities. Today’s hottest nursing jobs mirror important trends in American society: an aging baby boomer generation, growing consumer interest in fitness and holistic medicine, and advances in computer technology. The care delivery settings for these emerging careers vary widely–from the hospital room to the yoga studio–but they all share nursing’s traditional goals of caring for the sick and promoting good health.
“What makes each of us a nurse is a combination of skills and our capacity to give,” says Donna Wilk Cardillo, RN, a nursing career consultant and president of Cardillo & Associates in Sea Girt, N.J. “Nurses are multitalented and there are many ways to make a difference out there.”
Here’s a look at some of the most promising career growth areas for minority nurses in the new year and beyond.
Hot Career #1: Nursing Informatics
Angela Lewis, RN, found her niche in nursing the day she volunteered to be a “super-user” in the home health agency where she was working as a case manager. Her office was installing a new computer system and Lewis agreed to be a first-line user who would learn the system and then teach coworkers how to use it.
Lewis, who is African American, discovered that she loved learning the technology, sharing her knowledge and trouble-shooting problem areas for new users. She enjoyed it so much, in fact, that she asked her boss if she could do computer work full time. The answer was no, but the seed was planted: The experience set Lewis in motion on a new career in nursing informatics.
Demand for nurses like Lewis is high. More than 40 job ads were posted in a single recent month on the Web site of the American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA).
Nursing informatics is a relatively new specialty that combines nursing, computer science and information science to manage and communicate data, information and knowledge in nursing practice. It pulls all this information together in a streamlined, computerized way to facilitate patient care and other clinical work in hospitals, physicians’ offices, surgical centers and other health care settings.
Job opportunities in this field vary greatly. One ad on the ANIA Web site sought an information systems clinical analyst with an RN or allied health background for a children’s hospital. Another sought to hire nurses to teach clinicians how to use information management systems and technology. A third wanted a systems analyst with a nursing background who could work on teams that implement computer-based OR information systems around the country.
While the opportunities are plentiful, nursing informatics is not an entry-level career. RNs who find work in this specialty typically have several years of experience and professional education in both information systems and nursing.
Lewis got her first informatics job by default when, as a nursing supervisor, she was tapped for an informatics coordinator role. Her previous experience as a super-user made her a shoo-in. Today she is project manager for clinical information systems at La Rabida Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Among other responsibilities, Lewis manages the information systems that clinical staff use throughout the hospital. Doctors, nurses, radiology, pharmacy–all are linked by a common computer system that helps them track and manage patient care, from ordering and administering a dose of Tylenol to sharing lab test results.
Nursing informatics specialists serve as high-tech traffic cops for all the information swirling around their facilities. This calls for a well-rounded, well-organized person with a big-picture understanding of how the different departments in a facility interact and a solid grasp of the way things get done.
It is not a job for the easily frustrated. Part of Lewis’s function is to ensure that information systems are running properly. If the system goes down, it’s her job to get it back up, sometimes amid frantic or angry clinicians who need access to crucial medical information. At times like this, she relies on her clinical experience to prioritize demands.
This is the primary challenge of nursing informatics: to be a facilitator between technical staff and clinicians. It means being conversant in the languages of both technology and medicine. It also involves educating non-technical staff on the use and merits of computerization.
Often, nursing informatics specialists’ role is to help people make the transition from old paper-based systems to today’s new “paperless” workplaces, says Lewis. “[You’re] part educator, part scientist, part interpreter,” she notes.
If the health care sector has been slow to adopt computer technology, it’s because some patient care advocates worry it could dehumanize the patient-caregiver relationship. But these concerns are at least as old as the stethoscope, which was viewed with similar suspicion in its infancy, argues Lewis, who is president of the Midwest Alliance for Nursing Informatics.
“There are still a lot of people who think that if it’s technical you lose the human touch,” she adds. “A lot of times clinicians feel that way about computers, but the reality is that computers can improve patient care and the delivery of health care services.”
For more information: American Nursing Informatics Association,
www.ania.org.
Hot Career #2: Fitness Nursing
Non-traditional career alternatives in nursing have always existed, but most new graduates still come out of nursing school with the traditional bedside image in mind, Cardillo says. They may be so fixed on that image, in fact, that they are reluctant to move into new territory.
Lori Radcliffe, RN, BS, CPT/CFC, wasn’t afraid to make that leap, although she says it took her some time to connect the dots that led her to open her own business. A lifelong love for fitness and sports, a degree in kinesiology, a short career as a standup comedienne and an RN license all come together in her company, “Jest” for Fitness & Food in Tinton Falls, N.J.
As a fitness nurse, Radcliffe, who is African American, helps her clients regain strength and vitality through exercise and nutrition. Working with a dietitian, she offers seminars, exercise classes, videos and audiotapes to people who are recovering from surgery, trying to lose weight or have chronic health problems.
For example, resistance training for osteoporosis prevention is one of her specialties. She also works with people who have lymphedema (swelling of the arm after lymph node removal), fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Some of her clients have gone through post-surgical therapy but are not yet ready for the gym. Certified as a personal trainer, fitness counselor and kickboxing instructor, Radcliffe offers them a bridge between therapy and regular fitness classes.
Some of her business comes from hospitals that are ramping up wellness programs. Because these programs prefer fitness instructors who have medical backgrounds, being a nurse has helped her get a foot in the door. “People say, ‘Why don’t you just do fitness [training]?’” says Radcliffe. “But I’m a nurse first. These doors wouldn’t open up for me if I wasn’t a nurse.”
As the link between physical fitness, wellness and disease prevention grows, hospitals are opening fitness facilities to respond to increasing demand, according to the International Sports Sciences Association. In addition, hospitals and HMOs are offering wellness programs on topics such as nutrition, stress management and exercise, and are opening fitness centers targeted to specific groups, like children and senior citizens.
Radcliffe, too, seeks out pockets of special need. For instance, she has found that nurses are often so focused on caring for others that they put their own health needs last. Some follow ill-advised diet trends. Others smoke or do not exercise. The nurses she meets through her work with hospitals are curious about how she stays fit, observing her during lunch in the cafeteria and peppering her with questions. Some have signed up for one-on-one fitness sessions with Radcliffe.
“Nurses are known not to take care of themselves,” she says. “They think they’re exercising because they’re pushing and pulling patients. [Starting an exercise regimen] is like anything when you first take it on. The hardest part is accepting that either you’re going to change or it’s going to be you lying in that hospital bed next.”
Through networking, Radcliffe has found a way to serve another population that faces barriers to fitness. She teaches a kickboxing class two days a week at a community center in an inner city neighborhood. Her initial group of four adult students has grown to a dozen in the year since the class began. Sometimes they bring their teenage children, many of whom already suffer from Type 2 diabetes.
According to various studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1999 and 2001, 38% of American high school girls and 25% of boys do not get the recommended amount of moderate or vigorous physical activity. Twenty-eight percent of women and 22% of men over age 18 perform little or no physical activity, while 34% of women and 28% of men are obese. In recent years, the obesity epidemic has become a critical minority health concern. For example, the CDC reports that half of all non-Hispanic black women are obese.
“There’s no Gold’s Gym in the ’hood,” Radcliffe explains. “And they’re not going to walk [because the neighborhood is unsafe].” She adds that being African American helps her connect with the students in her class. “When you talk to people one on one, when they feel you care about them, [they’ll confide in you about issues like that].”
For more information: Aerobics and Fitness Association of America,
www.afaa.com; National Nurses in Business Association, www.nnba.net.
Hot Career #3: Holistic Nursing
For many years, American medical experts have relied primarily on prescription medications, surgery and other traditional Western practices to treat illness. But that tradition is slowly changing. Today’s health care consumers are looking for a broader range of options and are increasingly willing to try new approaches to wellness.
As a result, holistic medicine and nursing is an emerging field whose time has come. This blend of complementary and alternative healing methods, many of which are long-practiced traditions in Asian cultures, is starting to make inroads into the Western health care system. Today holistic nurses practice in a variety of settings, including medical offices, hospitals, wellness programs, fitness and meditation centers and their own businesses.
Unlike traditional Western medicine, with its focus on treating symptoms when and where they arise, holistic medicine treats the whole body as a system that works together, emphasizing harmony between body, mind and spirit to promote healing. It is an approach that Western medical practitioners are beginning to embrace, even at the most official level. For example, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a department of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), conducts clinical trials and research aimed at broadening available therapies.
Cancer patients, in particular, are seeking alternative treatments. In 2001, cancer was the second-leading cause of death in the United States and had an economic cost of $171.6 billion in medical bills and time lost from work. A recent NIH survey found that 83% of cancer patients sought alternative, non-mainstream medical solutions. According to NCCAM, some of the most popular of these alternative therapies are meditation and prayer, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), herbs, vitamins, special diets, exercise and relaxation techniques such as guided imagery.
With their one-on-one patient contact, nurses are in a unique position to nurture people toward wellness using a holistic approach. Some of the key healing techniques used by holistic nurses include stress management, Ayurveda, massage therapy, Reiki, acupuncture, meditation, aromatherapy, exercise and therapeutic movement.
For example, holistic nurses who practice Ayurveda seek to remove the cause of a patient’s disease, rather than merely treating the symptoms. This may include the use of herbs, meditation, yoga and changes in diet. Reiki is a therapy that directs energy to the body to promote healing and relaxation. TCM is an ancient practice that looks for the underlying causes of imbalances in the body and tailors treatment to an individual’s physical makeup, using herbs, acupuncture and massage. Therapeutic Touch is a technique that balances energy flow in the body through human energy transfer.
This past summer, AHNA Past President Charlotte Eliopoulos, RN, served as the association’s representative on a liaison panel for the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) by the American Public. Unfortunately, she reported back to AHNA that the committee seemed to be more interested in “safeguarding the use of [dietary] supplements and establishing consistent credentialing of acupuncturists, homeopaths, naturopaths, massage therapists and chiropractors” than in “the significance of the [holistic] nurse in impacting the use of CAM.”
Eliopoulos also reported that the committee members “definitely viewed the touch therapies as ‘out there’ and off the radar screen for consideration. The fact that these are the therapies most widely practiced by nurses should give us concern when major policy influencers do not even acknowledge their value.”
Nurses who believe in the benefits of holistic health care must make their voices heard at the policy-making level or else “the CAM train will leave without us,” Eliopoulos argues. “It isn’t just about adding new therapies and products, but changing the philosophy and approach to health and healing. The larger issue is the development of a holistic paradigm of health and healing, not the continuation of a fragmented, illness-oriented medical model.”
For more information: American Holistic Nurses Association, www.ahna.org.
Hot Career #4: Gerontological Nursing
At first glance, gerontology does not seem to fit the profile of a hot, emerging career option for nurses. It’s been around for a long time and tends to be seen as, well, old-fashioned and unexciting.
But if this is your perception of what caring for older persons is about, think again. With the aging of the large baby boomer generation, and the fact that people today are living well into their 90s, the future of gerontological nursing is a busy one. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services predicts that 5.7 million to 6.5 million long-term care workers will be required to meet the nation’s elder care needs in 2050, up from about 1.9 million such workers employed in 2000. This includes nurses, nurses’ aides, home health care providers and personal care workers.
Even today, gerontological nurses are already in great demand in ambulatory care centers, assisted living facilities, community centers and patients’ homes. Furthermore, the booming business of long-term care and assisted living facilities is bringing new opportunities to RNs who understand the complexities of providing health care to elderly people in these specialized residential environments. Many nurses are rising to corporate management positions within the companies that own these facilities, Cardillo says.
Still, the gerontology field has a reputation as a dumping ground for the very old and feeble. But for Carlo Sipaco, RN, this stereotype couldn’t be further from his experience as a shift supervisor for the Masonic Home of New Jersey, a nursing home in Burlington, N.J. Knowing his patients as individuals is the best part of his job, he says.
“We have about 300 residents and if they know you by name that means you did something for them to remember you personally.”
Working with elderly patients, many of whom suffer from chronic pain and loneliness, requires a can-do attitude every time a nurse steps onto the unit, Sipaco emphasizes. “If you don’t have patience, you have no business working in a nursing home setting,” he says. “[Patients] will come to you every day with the same complaint. If you don’t have the patience, that [behavior] is very annoying.”
Sipaco has found that the personal touch goes a long way toward minimizing the grumbling that stems from chronic pain. “Maybe that simple interaction with the patient will help ease the pain,” he explains. “Most of those depressions, most of those pains, can really be minimized by listening. Seeing a depressed [patient] smile after you’ve talked with them is rewarding.”
Because Sipaco was raised in the Philippines, where elderly people are honored and revered for their wisdom, caring for older patients comes naturally to him. But this same cultural tradition made it hard for him to delegate tasks to older nurses when he became a charge nurse in 1994, and he often ended up doing the work himself. That changed over time as he became more comfortable with American culture, he says.
Today Sipaco is one of two night shift supervisors for 11 nurses and 24 CNAs at the Masonic Home, where he has worked since 1991. He is using his position to nurture a new generation of caregivers for older Americans. As he puts it, “If I can influence them, especially the younger ones, the new graduates, to see the beauty of working with the elderly, then that’s very, very rewarding.”
For more information: National Gerontological Nursing Association,
