Healthlinks Charleston Sept/Oct 2020

64 | www.CharlestonPhysicians.com | www.HealthLinksCharleston.com TANNER WHITSON, BSN, RN Tanner Whitson can directly relate to his patients at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Chil- dren’s Hospital. From the ages 4 to 14, he had seven major surgeries related to ulcer- ative colitis with 12 different hospital stays ranging from two or three days to some- times several weeks at a time. When he was 11, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and, in 2017, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Now at age 24, he said he is happy to be living actively and achieving the goals and dreams he always wanted to. “I chose to work in pediatric intensive care unit because I spent most of my childhood in one of those beds, and now I have the opportunity to show these kids that they can achieve anything they want to in life despite the circumstances they are given,” he said. He advises new nurses to be “present” with their patients. “The 12 hours of your shift might just be another 12 hours to you, but, to patients and their families, that could be the most terrifying, scary, uncertain 12 hours of their life. This gives us an opportunity as nurses to really be there for the patient and their family in these fearful times.” RICHETTA DEAS, MSN, APRN, ANP-BC It was the painful death of Richetta Deas’ grandmother when she was just 7 years old that made her want to go into nursing. “My grandmother – my angel – who gave me so much of the little she had, succumbed to a malignant tumor in her stomach that was deemed inoperable. She died alone in a nursing home. I wanted to take care of her myself, and I was only 7 years old,” she remembered. But that experience inspired her. She is now an adult nurse prac- titioner with Fetter Health Care Network. Her advice to new nurses is to “listen to your patients. They are an invaluable resource, and you will learn from each one. Passing clinicals, grand rounds, boards – that is the easy part.” She also said, “Don’t let the money or job security be the primary reason you become a nurse. Chances are you will fail. This profes- sion is for the soldiers of heart, and you must be alert and ready at all times.” KHAILIALIAH YATES, RN, ADN The most rewarding part of being a pedi- atric intensive care unit nurse at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital for Khail- ialiah Yates is being able to bring joy, light and hope to the children and the families that she cares for in probably what is the toughest time of their lives. “I was working as a tech in the PICU when I decided to go to nurs- ing school. I saw the care and compassion that the nurses showed the patients. I immediately went into nursing school, and now I get to do that,” she said. She admitted that being a critical care nurse during a pandemic has been challenging in many ways but that she wouldn’t change it for anything. “I love what I do and am grateful I get to do it,” she remarked. She doesn’t take herself too seriously and she advises other nurs- es to do the same. “It is OK to have fun in your job,” she said. Yates is currently working on her BSN and aspires to obtain her CCRN and ACNP. T H E P U L S E O N CHARLESTON NURSES ASHLEY DOCTOR, RN When Ashley Doctor was growing up, caring for others came naturally. “I had a love for science, and I was always trying to figure out why things worked the way they worked,” she said. But when Doctor started helping her grandmother care for her grandfather, she knew this was a calling in life. “I honestly can say I enjoy helping and serving others,” she explained. Now as an orthopedic service line navigator at Trident Medical Center, she wants aspiring nurses to know that every experience will shape them. “Soak up all you can in school and capitalize on every experience. Every situation that you might think is against you is going to help you in some way,” she said. She personally has always taken the advice of John Maxwell, an American author, speaker and pastor, who said, “Always remember to never stop growing. If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.” HealthLinks Charleston wants to recognize nurses as the backbone of our medical community and thank them for all their efforts!