Making a Job Your Own

This nurse talks about saying yes to opportunities as they arise & how it's shaped her diverse background in nursing

Welcome to Nurse Ascent, a twice-weekly newsletter created by nurses for nurses. This week, one nurse tells the story of how she said yes to opportunities in new specialties and learned to make those jobs her own. We also talk about a global increase in COVID cases, notices for 50% SNAP benefits, and toy MRI scanners for anxiety reduction in children.

But first, raise your hand if this has ever been you at the Pyxis...

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Nurse Spotlight: Sheila Thompson, RN, CPHQ

What I Do for Work

I’ve worked for a Medicaid managed care plan for 24 years as a practice transformation strategist. I’m in the quality department, where I work closely with the provider network on quality measures. For example, right now I’m working on a measure to ensure children and adolescents on antipsychotics are getting their metabolic monitoring testing done.

Overall, I’ve had a diverse experience in nursing just from taking jobs that were newly created and making them my own. I definitely encourage other nurses to say yes to opportunities that interest them as they arise.

How I Got Here

Right out of university, I worked in orthopedic surgery before moving from the East to West Coast. There, I worked temporarily in a small community hospital on a medical-surgical floor before moving to a large multi-specialty provider group in a urology department, while also working in urgent care on the weekends.

At this facility, they created a new position in employee health and infection control, and this was my first step away from bedside nursing into an administrative role. There, I found a mentor in that specialty and joined the local chapter of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control.

When my mentor was leaving her facility, she recommended me for a role in infection prevention as a nurse epidemiologist, where I learned a ton—but the commute wasn’t sustainable for me. All of this brought me to my current employer, working in quality control, where I helped form the quality department in my current role.

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More on Sheila

A Day in My Life

My current role is primarily focused on quality measures. A day for me might look like having a meeting with a provider group to talk about possible barriers and interventions to help providers improve their rates.

I just completed a project to help increase the rate of developmental screenings in children ages 1, 2, and 3. They had been struggling with this for years, and I met with the team from the group and identified many issues that came to light only because of my role working so closely with them.

What I Do for Fun

My kids are school-aged and keep me busy during my time off work. My daughter is in Girl Scouts and other activities.

For myself, my job used to be really stressful, but now that it’s remote and my workload is lighter, I’ve been able to get back into more things I enjoy—like quilting, jazz dancing, and yoga. I also have what my friends and I jokingly call “a fake book club,” which is basically just a wine-drinking club with friends.

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Share your story & be entered to win

As part of our effort to spotlight nurses, we’d love to feature you in an upcoming issue of Nurse Ascent! Share your story by filling out our quick interview form, and you’ll be entered into a raffle to win a $50 gift card.

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Headlines in Healthcare

COVID cases increasing worldwide

This month, rates of COVID infection have seen an increase globally this month, 19,000 more worldwide than the month prior, according to the WHO. Researchers share that with limited COVID-19 surveillance data are hampering vaccination and health strategies. Although there is surveillance, experts report that it isn't sufficient and that higher quality surveillance is critical to really understand what’s circulating so that a more complete understanding of which variants of the virus are in circulation.

Half SNAP benefit payments

The Trump administration announced that SNAP benefits will restart, but will be half the normal payment recipients normally receive. They plan to use money from an Agriculture Department contingency fund, reporting that only $4.65 billion available in that fund will be used to pay for SNAP benefits, which is roughly half of the $8 billion in food assistance payments people receive every month.

Mini MRIs for anxiety reduction

The toy company, LEGO, has donated its LEGO MRI scanner set to radiology departments around the world. Designed by employee Erik Ullerlund Staehr, he hoped to alleviate anxiety for pediatric patients who are anxious about getting their scans. Their research shows 96% of healthcare professionals who used the LEGO set say it helped alleviate children’s anxiety, and 46% reported that it has reduced the need for sedation or anesthesia during MRI procedures.

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Meet the author:
​Katie Scoggins
(RN, BSN & Health Writer)

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