HJAR Mar/Apr 2020

Steve Brackeen, RN Chief Nursing Officer/Facility Privacy Officer Helena Regional Medical Center Michele Diedrich, DNP, MA, RN, NEA-BC Chief Nursing Officer Baptist Health-Little Rock and Baptist Health Rehabilitation Institute Meredith Green, MSN, APRN Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Washington Regional Medical Center Louise Hickman, RN, MA, CLNC Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Jefferson Regional Medical Center Trenda Ray, PhD, RN Chief Nursing Officer and Associate Vice Chancellor for Patient Care Services University of Arkansas for Medical Science Bryan Williams, DNP, MBA, RN, NE-BC Chief Nurse Executive CHI St. Vincent Why did you go into nursing? Brackeen I chose nursing because I planned to pursue the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist career path. As I was building my clinical experience resume, I had the opportunity to get into a nurs- ing management role, and discovered I enjoyed this aspect of nursing. I’ve been in nursing management/leadership roles since 1983. Diedrich I had an interesting pathway to my nursing career. My college journey began with a goal of becoming a pharmacist, but two years into college I realized that phar- macy was not really my calling. A friend con- vinced me to change my major to nursing, and I could not be more thankful for the change in my career choice. Green I chose a career in nursing because I felt a special calling to help and serve others in my community. Hickman I chose nursing to be able to help people get better, and understand their ill- nesses better. I felt like I was called to the profession of nursing. My mother instilled a great work ethic in me, how to care for people, do the right thing, and to always fol- low God’s direction. I was spending a sum- mer with my grandparents, and had just completed CPR one weekend as part of a day camp I participated in. I never imag- ined I would have to do CPR on my grand- father that next week after I returned from camp, when he collapsed one morning at the breakfast table, while my grandmother called an ambulance. I knew right then that I wanted to be a nurse. Ray Nursing is my passion, and I am grateful to have the chance to lead and inspire other nurses daily. My first exposure to helping those in need was while I was still in high school, and was trusted to help care for my very active grandmother after she suffered a sudden hip fracture. Afterward, things were never the same for her. For years, I often spent nights and weekends helping care for her. This experience taught me how one person giving something as simple as their presence and attention can be so meaning- ful and healing to others, especially to the

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