National Nurses Week - Finding Balance As A Caregiver

Chris didn’t always know she wanted to be a nurse. In fact, she started her career as a Corpsman in the Navy before returning home and earning a degree in Early Elementary Education. Although she loved teaching she found herself thinking ‘I do not feel I am helping people in the way I desire’. Around this same time, her father was moved into hospice care and her son into the NICU. From these experiences, Chris learned how much of an impact nurses had on her as an individual and decided to pursue a career in nursing. 15 years later, Chris is hired as one of the first Critical Products Managers for The Resource Group where she has learned so much about the dedication and compassion necessary to connect resource and supply management and the clinical side of healthcare for others and for herself.

The pandemic forced many organizations, including The Resource Group, to move to a remote work environment. This type of work environment provided a sense of relief and safety for some but for Chris, those feelings were not shared “It was hard for me as a clinician who isn't working at the bedside to take a backseat when something so big happens. I don’t think there was a single clinician who was glad that they weren’t a practicing nurse at the time, we all wanted to help patients and wished we were able to be on the frontlines with them”. Looking for ways to fill this void, Chris volunteered at on-site donation centers and within the Ascension Texas market Incident Command Center. In her volunteer role, she physically transported kits and supplies during the distributor backlog and provided support at vaccination clinics when the vaccines became available. Even in the face of numerous pandemic-related challenges, Chris remained positive. She attributes this perspective back to her joint role as a clinician and as a Critical Products Manager, “I’m in a unique position because I see the struggles from both sides. I sympathize with the clinicians and how hard they are working and I also know how important the resource and supply management function is in supporting the care clinicians provide. When I can do anything, even something small, to make anyone’s life easier, I’ll fight for that.”

Throughout the pandemic, Chris has been a true example of the resilience and commitment of nurses, yet when looking back on the past year the first thing that came to mind was her team. She said “I could not have gotten through the year without my team. It was heartwarming and incredibly rewarding to see our people in action - not just our clinicians, doctors, and nurses --but our entire Resource Group family”.