Honoring local heroes for National Nurses Week
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Nurses are often referred to as the heart of healthcare, showing compassion and resiliency every single day.
"Seeing out patients get better, I think that is the biggest thank you is when patients get to meet their goals," says Trisha Finnegan, nurse practitioner with HCA HealthONE Colorado Orthopedic Specialists.
"I would say it's more than what I dreamed of," says Keanna Martin, clinical cardiac care nurse coordinator at HCA HealthONE Sky Ridge.
Both nurses live in Colorado Springs. They are at the forefront of delivering high-quality care at HCA Healthcare’s facilities and help make up the more than 100,000 nurses. They say every week they feel the extra appreciation, not just during National Nurses Week.
"You can build a human connection within a split second," says Finnegan. "A 15-minute office visit or a 12-hour floor shift, but meeting that human connection is pretty amazing when you get to meet people where they're at."
For Martin, one nurse changed the course of her life when she was in the hospital as a patient. And inspired her to get into nursing and help others.
"She sat down and had a long talk with me, about 30 minutes, and as a nurse, that's a long time to sit down with one patient," says Martin. "And it completely changed my outlook. I felt heard and seen, she was advocating for me, and she cried with me."
And Finnegan says that human connection is what's kept her in nursing for over two decades.
"There is an art to nursing, and I think there is a big drive because we fill a lot of roles,
says Finnegan. "We are advocates, we are leaders, we are managers, we are educators, we are empaths, we are scientists, we are critical thinkers, and we have to juggle all of those roles on a daily basis, and we have to meet patients in a very critical moment where things have to be fast, efficient, and perfect. And then we also meet patients in the quiet chaos when maybe they are just having some anxiety before a procedure, and a simple hand hold is all they need."
Both women encourage people to join the ever-changing nursing world. They say there are so many avenues for people to find their fit. And there is nothing better than helping people day in and day out.
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