Certified School Nurse at Naperville Community Unit School District 203 (2022-08 – 2026-07)
Served as Certified School Nurse at Connections Transition Services, a transition school for special needs students ages 17-22. With three direct reporting nurses and one health tech.
- Completed IEP's and Health Care plans for all students in building as every student is complex special education high level of care. Interviewed students, parents and staff regarding student health concerns and completed a health history for evaluation of initial IEPs. Develop individual health and emergency action plans for every student at Connections.
- Provide direct professional nursing services, first aid, illness, and emergency care to students and staff in response to nursing assessment and in accordance with professional standards, school policy and procedures as well as local and state mandates.
- Participate in maintaining accurate medical records to assure compliance with state mandates including immunizations, physical examinations, medications, medical conditions, dental, vision and hearing screenings, and all other health care documents.
- Serve as a liaison between school personnel, family, community, and healthcare providers to advocate for health care and a healthy school environment. Serve as a nursing preceptor for student nurses in their pediatric rotation.
Certified School Nurse at West Aurora School District 129 (2019-08 – 2022-05)
One of two certified school nurses at a high school serving almost 4,000 students, many with 504 plans or IEPs.
- Write goals and develop plans for 504 plans and IEPs with regards to student health and how it affects academics. Interview students, parents and staff regarding student health concerns and complete a health history for evaluation of initial IEPs. Develop individual health and emergency action plans for students with health concerns.
- Provide direct professional nursing services, first aid, illness, and emergency care to students and staff in response to nursing assessment and in accordance with professional standards, school policy and procedures as well as local and state mandates.
- Participate in maintaining accurate medical records to assure compliance with state mandates including immunizations, physical examinations, medications, medical conditions, dental, vision and hearing screenings, and all other health care documents.
- Serve as a liaison between school personnel, family, community, and healthcare providers to advocate for health care and a healthy school environment. Serve as a nursing preceptor for student nurses in their pediatric rotation.
Manager of Surgical Services at Franciscan Hospital Olympia Fields (2018-12 – 2019-08)
- Managed five departments, seven cost centers and over 70 FTEs, as well as 5,000 procedures annually within the nine operating rooms in Surgical Services.
- Handled all aspects of the operating room including charge nurse duties and circulating and scrubbing all services.
- Maintained all management functions including interviewing, hiring, scheduling, training, evaluating, and terminating employees and handling bi-weekly payroll.
- Collaborated with administration, surgeons, and staff by performing six sigma projects to organize the department and increase the efficiency, productivity, turnover times, on-time starts and surgical volume within the OR.
- Prepared for 3-year HFAP survey and worked on all aspects of compliance to complete a successful survey.
Director of Surgical Services and Sterile Processing at AMITA Hinsdale Hospital (2015-08 – 2018-09)
- Directed operations and programs with 24/7 responsibility for 12 operating rooms, sterile processing department, five cost centers and over 70 FTE's and a combined 6,000 procedures performed annually.
- Successfully managed a multi-million dollar operational and capital budget including the purchase and implementation of the DaVinci Xi robotic program.
- Collaborated with administration, physicians, and staff to identify future opportunities and develop a strategic plan for surgical services that included goals; OR efficiency; productivity and defined metrics for on-time starts; turnovers; and percentage of volume increases per month. (Current OR metrics: 90% or higher on-time starts; 28-minute turnovers including staggered, started, and multi-surgeon cases; and regular increases in volume yearly).
- Planned, organized, and oversaw a $1M construction project in SPD that expanded the overall size and increased the efficiency of the department as a whole, and implemented a fully automated instrument tracking system.
- Developed and enacted a new OR nurse education program and an annual OR skills fair for all staff that included five hands-on demonstrations of select skills.
- Collaborated with the Resource Group to plan and execute a perpetual inventory system that was converted into a new software program which resulted in a $200,000 decrease in cost of supplies over a six-month period.
- Successfully completed two Joint Commission surveys and one CMS survey.
Manager, Operating Room Specialty at University of Chicago Hospital (2013-01 – 2015-06)
- Provided clinical and administrative leadership to 100+ staff members including registered nurses, surgical techs, environmental service reps, patient care assistants and supply chain staff in three separate hospitals.
- Handled all aspects of the urology, gynecology and robotics departments which included checking surgery schedules to ensure that proper equipment, instruments, and implants were available; creating, reviewing and maintaining preference cards; and circulating and scrubbing procedures based on departmental needs.
- Created, implemented, and taught robotics training programs for staff in the cardiac, thoracic, general, urology, gynecology, pediatrics, and otolaryngology departments.
- Coordinated onboarding of new surgeons to the surgery department, supervised staff to make certain that hospital policies and standards were complied with, and maintained policies and procedures for peri-operative services.
- Maintained staffing for 22 operating rooms and recruited and interviewed candidates to fill surgery staff positions.
- Conducted monthly staff meetings, completed annual staff evaluations, and implemented merit increases based on performance.
- Submitted capital budget and purchasing instrumentation, equipment and supplies based on the needs of the surgeons and the department.
Registered Nurse, Cardiac Surgery at Total Med Froedtert Hospital (2012-06 – 2012-12)
Served a 26-week contract as a travel nurse at a Trauma I teaching hospital.
- Circulated cardiovascular, thoracic and transplant cases including on- and off-pump bypass grafts, minimally invasive valve replacement ang grafts, on-pump valve replacement, LVAD, RVAD, cryomaze, POF closure, atrial septal defects, thoracotomy, VATS, robotic thoracotomy, esophagectomy, thymectomy, vascular bypass grafts, amputation, aortic dissection, liver, kidney, and pancreas transplants.
- Scrubbed services in the vascular, general, GYN and urology departments.
- Trained newly graduated and experienced nurses in cardiovascular service lines.
- Updated and implemented policies using evidence-based practice standards, updated preference cards for cases and implemented and enforced JACHO standards.
Registered Nurse, Cardiac Surgery at Trustaff Wisconsin Heart Hospital (2011-12 – 2012-05)
Served two 13-week contracts at a Level III heart hospital.
- Circulated cardiovascular cases including robotic valves, robotic coronary bypass grafts, robotic cryomaze, robotic cobra maze, robotic septal defects, minimally invasive valves, minimally invasive bypass grafts, sternotomy on- and off-pump valves and bypass grafts. Other cases included pacemaker insertion, thoracotomy, VATS and thymectomy.
- Circulated at St. Joseph Hospital (an affiliated Level II hospital) in cardiovascular, neurosurgery, ENT, GYN, general, pediatrics, plastics, and orthopedics services.
- Served as charge nurse by planning surgery schedules, staffing rooms, selecting cases, obtaining equipment, and preparing staff schedules.
RNFA and Occupational Nurse at Cape Fear Valley Hospital (2010-01 – 2011-12)
- Maintained all aspects of Employee Health including eye exams, hearing tests, vaccinations, FIT testing, drug testing, FIT for duty, TB testing and other occupational needs.
- Circulated, scrubbed, and assisted surgeons in cardiovascular and general cases at a Level II hospital.
- Assisted surgeons with positioning and draping patients; cutting, dissecting, and removing tissue; dressing and closing wounds; and cast placement and removal.
