2010 Top 25 Nurse Darwin Harris, RN, (center) preps for surgery with colleagues
Dr. Kelly Lynch (left) and Dr. Nick Manitzas (right).
room circulating nurse at Scott & White’s
partner hospital, Hillcrest Baptist Medical
Center in Waco, Texas. Mr. Harris does
not scrub in with the surgical team, but he
assists the anesthesiologist with preparing
patients for surgery and makes sure the
surgeon and surgical team have all the
necessary supplies and equipment.
Mr. Harris takes pride in helping to make
things run smoothly and accurately in a
busy operating room. “We communicate
really well,” he says. “Two of the big keys
in the operating room are communication
and teamwork. You have to have them, or
you can’t really work here.”
The future of nursing care
The nursing team must also educate
patients, families, and parents about how
to care for their loved one after discharge
from the hospital.
Advantages of working in a
system of care
The Scott & White Healthcare system
offers opportunities for a spectrum of
nursing choices, in both inpatient and
outpatient areas of care. For instance,
Simon Hernandez, RN, worked as a nurse
in the emergency room and the intensive
care unit, and then found his calling when
he transferred to the Pavilion, Scott &
White’s day surgery center on the Temple
campus. Mr. Hernandez likes seeing
patients through their surgical journey in a
single day. “You can see a patient come in
from the very beginning of their
experience and basically walk them out the
door the same day.” Again, this experience
also provides an opportunity to learn.
“The number one thing about Scott &
White is teaching,” Mr. Hernandez says.
“You’re constantly learning new things.”
Heather Wesseling, RN, a registered
nurse at the intensive care unit at Scott &
White Hospital - Round Rock, appreciates
building relationships with critically ill
patients and their families over a longer
term. “I really like getting to develop a
rapport and work with a patient who is
very ill and be actively involved in helping
them turn around and come out of that,”
Ms. Wesseling says. She considers it a
privilege to provide compassion during
“such intimate times of their lives.”
Similarly, Miss VanRossun chose to
become an oncology nurse to assist people
as they face cancer, particularly during
those fearful early stages of chemotherapy.
“We try to keep everything upbeat and
positive,” she says. “Patients don’t really
want to sit in that chair, but we want them
to be as comfortable as possible and feel
like they’re at home.”
Darwin Harris, RN, is an operating
Opportunities for nurses at Scott & White
will increase as the system continues to
expand. Mrs. Hansen predicts that the
profession will become more challenging.
“As hospital stays get shorter and shorter
and the complexity of the care gets higher
and higher, the role of nurses becomes
more important.”
Still, sympathy and compassion are
offered when patients need it most.
And that carries a world of satisfaction
for Scott & White nurses. “This is a very
rewarding profession that we’re in,”
Mrs. Long says.
Miss VanRossun agrees. When the
woman who panicked before her first
chemotherapy treatment returned for her
second treatment, she told her nurse, “I’m
very thankful you were there.” ■
Dr. Sibbitt also is an assistant professor of
internal medicine, the Texas A&M Health
Science Center College of Medicine.
www.sw.org | Summer/Fall 11 THE CATALYST
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