National Nurses Week occurs each year from May 6th to May 12th which is Florence Nightingale's birthday. Florence Nightingale was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. She became famous while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War. During this war, Florence organized care for wounded soldiers at Constantinople. According to the American Nurses’ Association (ANA), the celebrations during National Nurses Week were created to recognize the contributions that nurses and nursing makes in community.
In honor of National Nurses Week, Nevada Donor Network would like to recognize a nurse who serves our mission to save and heal lives through organ, eye and tissue donation. Meet our Manager of Quality Regulatory Affairs, Angela.
She shared, “I have been a nurse for eleven years. My path to this profession was shaped long before I ever stepped into a clinical setting. Growing up, I had two women in my immediate family who were nurses and their passion for their work was impossible to ignore. I watched them pour themselves into their careers, listened to the stories they carried home about their patients and felt something stir in me. I knew in my heart, even then, that nursing was exactly where I was meant to be. Before earning my nursing license, I worked as a caregiver and certified nursing assistant (CNA). Those experiences grounded me in the heart of patient care. In my first year as a nurse, I had the honor of working in the neurology clinic at the University of California, Irvine, alongside an extraordinary team of physicians and surgeons. This included epileptologists, neurologists, neurosurgeons and specialists in conditions such as dementia, migraines, etc. I witnessed both heartbreak and miracles. It was there that a neurologist first introduced me to the concept of brain death. I did not know it then, but that conversation would become one of the most pivotal moments of my nursing career. From there, an opening arose in the kidney and pancreas transplant program. I fell in love with organ donation and transplantation. I cared for patients across every stage of their transplant journey, from those newly transplanted to altruistic kidney recipients to individuals who had carried their gift for over fifteen years or more. Each story deepened my devotion to this work. I worked alongside some of the most amazing and dedicated nurses, nephrologists and surgeons as well. When my husband and I made the decision to move home to Las Vegas, I set my sights on Nevada Donor Network. It took three applications and unwavering determination (with a brief role working alongside a rheumatologist in between), but I earned my place. Since joining the Nevada Donor Network team, I have held roles as a Procurement Transplant Coordinator, Referral Responder, Supervisor of Organ Services and now, Manager of Quality and Regulatory Affairs. Nearly my entire nursing career has been devoted to donation and transplantation in one capacity or another. I would not have it any other way. When I made the decision to leave University of California, Irvine, I knew in my heart that I had to remain in the donation and transplantation world. I have witnessed firsthand the toll that dialysis takes on those waiting for a lifesaving kidney transplant. I have also had the honor of watching those same individuals receive that gift of life and truly flourish. It is something words can hardly capture. The work we do here at Nevada Donor Network is equally difficult to articulate. It feeds my soul in a way I cannot fully explain. To step away from this mission would be unimaginable. This work is not just what I do, it is part of me. The experiences and roles I have had throughout my nursing career profoundly shape the way I approach my current work. I understand the processes, the weight of clinical decision making and the very real consequences that follow when standards are not upheld. As a nurse, I took an oath to protect my patients, and that commitment does not end at the bedside. Though I no longer work in direct patient care, I believe my experience carries tremendous value. It allows me to connect meaningfully with others, to share what I have learned and to instill in them that same sense of purpose and responsibility. At the heart of what we do, we are not only protecting our patients, we are safeguarding the hope of those waiting to receive a second chance at life. It will be one of the best decisions you have ever made to become a nurse. Immerse yourself fully in every experience and opportunity nursing school has to offer! You may enter with a clear vision, certain you are meant for labor and delivery, only to find yourself standing in an operating room, breathless, hearing the words, "It is a go!" after hours of hope and recruitment. That moment, and so many like it, will remind you why you chose this path. Be open to the journey. Your niche will find you, and when it does, you will know, because it will feed your soul. To my fellow nurses… Happy National Nurses Week! Thank you for your sacrifice, the seen and unseen. You are more than enough, and the world is better because of you!”
Inspired by the Angela’s journey? Join our team by applying now!