Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background in healthcare.
I am a registered nurse with a background in pediatric long-term care. I worked in a New York City-based facility where about 200 children received subacute and ongoing care for chronic health conditions resulting from genetic disorders, extreme prematurity, birth trauma, devastating childhood illness and injury, and other causes. Some kids were discharged home after only a few months while others spent their entire childhood there and were transferred after adolescence to an adult facility. Working there had its challenges, but I also had the joy of helping kids who may have long been given up on feel less pain, recover after acute illness or surgery, defy their prognosis and live beyond their life expectancy, hit some milestones, and even get to go home and grow up with their families in some cases.
What did you do prior to joining Dynamic Health’s clinical editor team?
Before joining the clinical editor team as it was just forming in August of 2020, I was a contract writer for EBSCO for more than 12 years. I started out writing Quick Lessons, Evidence-Based Care Sheets, and Nursing Practice & Skill topics for CINAHL’s Nursing Reference Center. In the years leading up to employment, I experienced the excitement surrounding the inception of Dynamic Health as we know it today and even took part in some of the transitional projects.
What inspired you to become a healthcare professional?
I was in my mid-twenties, living in Boston and just scraping by financially as a behavior therapist for children with neurodevelopmental and behavioral disorders, when my partner at the time said I should consider nursing. I enjoyed working with children, and I was particularly drawn to working with children with autism and other developmental disabilities, but the closest I thought I’d ever be to becoming a nurse was when I dressed in a nurse costume for Halloween when I was six years old. I was never particularly career-minded — I had a BA in sociocultural anthropology with no idea how to apply it — and I never imagined myself working in healthcare, but I realized that as a nurse I could continue to work with children in a different, more holistic, and potentially more impactful capacity, while making a solid living for myself.
What drew you to work at EBSCO on our clinical decisions products?
My positive experience as a contract writer with EBSCO opened the door for my current role. I was thrilled to take part in the development and expansion of a product met with such high regard as a set of evidence-based, clinically relevant bedside tools.
What makes you passionate about working in healthcare?
I am passionate about making the world safer, healthier, and happier for children. I believe all children have special needs and that it’s our responsibility as healthcare professionals and as humans who were children ourselves to find ways to best meet those needs. I am currently enrolled in a master’s program in Global Health (tying together my undergraduate degrees) and a goal of mine is to better understand the ways healthcare systems around the world recognize and respond to the health challenges faced by children.
What is your advice for people who are thinking about joining the healthcare space?
You’ve probably heard this before, but there really are so many opportunities in healthcare. Nursing, in particular, is a remarkably diverse field. There is no nurse prototype, no setting to which you must commit, and, chances are, no real chance of being eaten alive, however young you are and however the saying may still go. If you are conscientious, curious, and willing to advocate for others, you can find a fit that makes you proud and happy.
Can you talk a little bit about your work on Dynamic Health?
As a clinical editor in Dynamic Health’s pediatric publication group, I primarily write and maintain currency of a collection of pediatric nursing skills. I also update Clinical Decision Support (CDS) topics and peer review the work of colleagues and contract writers. I collaborate across teams on various projects, including media development, content expansion to other care settings, and global expansion projects. Compared to my mostly solitary work as a contractor, which I enjoyed enough to do for more than 12 years, I find the collaborative work I do now far more rewarding.
