Sue Easterbrook: 37, Registered nurse, Bayfront Medical Center, St. Petersburg
By ELLEN MOSES
Published May 5, 2004
How did you get interested in nursing?
I spent a lot of time in the hospital when I was a child. I got severe burns when I was little, and I went through different surgeries and was in the hospital a lot. I went back and forth thinking about banking, or accounting, something totally different, but then by the time I got to 17 it was like, no, I'm going to go into nursing.
What kind of training do you have?
I did my general training in Scotland for 3 1/2 years, and then a year of orthopedic training in England. I worked in orthopedics in England and back home in Scotland.
Where did you go to school?
Dundee and Angus College of Nursing and Midwifery in Scotland. . . . And then my orthopedic training was at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopedic Hospital in England.
Do you have any specialty training?
The orthopedics is an extra year (of study). And then I had to take my boards in Miami, when I came over here in '92. Last May I got my orthopedic nursing certification in the States, which is a national certification. Myself and my charge nurse are the first two at Bayfront to get that certification.
How long have you worked at Bayfront?
I came to the states in '93 and did two years of home health (care), and then I joined Bayfront in '95 and went to the orthopedic floor. I've been here 9 years.
What are your primary responsibilities?
Up on the fifth floor, I head up the orthopedic wing. I do a lot of training with new nurses that come to the unit, so I'm usually the primary precept for new nurses.
What hours do you work?
I work first shift, which is 7 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon, and I'm one of the very lucky people; I work Monday through Friday.
How long have you worked that shift?
I've been working day shift 61/2 years and doing Monday through Friday probably the last two years. I was night charge for the first two years I was here. And I've worked the day shift, and I've done 8-hour shifts, 12-hour shifts. I've done them all.
How many hours a week do you work?
40.
What is a typical day like for you?
If I'm working with a new nurse, I'm pretty much one-on-one with them. What they're doing, I'm following. Or they're following me if they're brand new. On a typical day I'll have between four and eight patients that I'm responsible for, and that could be with a nursing assistant. And it's the usual stuff: you know, (doing patient) assessments, passing out medications, dressing changes, getting 'em up out of bed and generally taking care of them in the day-to-day routine.
So you are one of how many nurses on the floor?
Usually we'll have about six nurses on a morning shift and up to five nursing assistants.
What kind of procedures are current patients recovering from?
We've got a big mix up there just now. We've got people that have had big back surgeries, total hip replacements, total knee replacements. We also have general surgeries in the mix, so there might be someone who's had their gall bladder taken out.
What is your favorite thing about the job?
I think teaching the students and the new nurses coming along. It's nice seeing the patients walk out, especially if they've had a big surgery. The first time you see them they're lying in a bed coming out of recovery and then three, four days later they're out in the hallway with their walkers, you know, doing well with a smile on their face, probably for the first time in a long time. That's nice.
What is your least favorite thing?
Paperwork. We have to chart all our assessments and vital signs. A lot of it's computerized now. Most every hospital has a computerized system, and that makes it nice because you get to spend more time with the patients now. There's not as much paperwork as there was when I first started nursing.
Nurses are in demand nationwide. Why did you choose Bayfront?
Because I'd heard that they had orthopedics here, and with Bayflite and the level II trauma center, that was kind of geared to what I'd been doing at home. I think I'm lucky I work at Bayfront. I could have gone to any hospital that I wanted to. I like the people that I work with up on the floor, and the people that I come across daily throughout the hospital.
So you do see trauma patients on the orthopedic wing?
Occasionally. Orthopedics and spinal injuries is pretty much everything I've done.
What kind of personality traits do you need for this job?
You have to have a lot of patience. You have to be very organized. And generally just a very, caring person. . . . But patience is the big one. Standing back and letting someone do something for themselves is one of the hardest things, because it's easier to do it yourself for that person.
What would your dream job be?
Nursing educator. Hands-on clinical teaching, working with either student nurses or new nurses coming into the field, in a hospital setting.
Isn't that what you already do?
Yep, pretty much, but not having to look after my patients and do that. I'd like just working with the new nurses full time.
