Celina Leeper
Celina Leeper is a dedicated and compassionate Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) with over 14 years of experience in clinical and home health settings. She began her healthcare journey in 2004 as a medical assistant, later earning her nursing diploma from Pioneer Pacific College in 2009. Throughout her career, Celina has specialized in patient assessment, medication administration, and care plan development, demonstrating exceptional proficiency in managing multiple patient cases while maintaining high standards of care, documentation, and HIPAA compliance. Her work spans gastroenterology, home infusion nursing, and healthcare innovation, where she has consistently implemented practical solutions to improve patient outcomes and streamline care delivery.
Celina’s path to nursing was deeply personal, inspired by the care her mother received from hospice nurses during a terminal illness. She has supported patients and families through complex health challenges, including liver disease and hepatic encephalopathy, drawing on her own experiences with family health struggles. She also contributed to healthcare innovation teams, developing organized supply trays and operational processes to enhance efficiency and patient safety. Her professional philosophy emphasizes patient education, family support, and leading by example, ensuring that care is empathetic, informed, and practical.
In recent years, Celina took time away from clinical practice to focus on her health and the well-being of her children, addressing personal medical challenges and her daughter’s complex mental health needs. She has used this time to grow personally, achieving two years of sobriety and gaining insight into ADHD, both personally and within her family. Now fully recovered and refocused, Celina is preparing to return to the healthcare field as she pursues a degree in addiction counseling, aiming to support mental health and substance-use recovery. She continues to balance her professional goals with her role as a mother and mentor, helping her daughter launch her own Etsy shop while maintaining her nursing expertise.
• Licensed Practical Nurse
• Pioneer Pacific College - A.A.S.
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to knowing my why - understanding the deep personal reason behind my choice to become a nurse. My why has always been my North Star, and it's what got me through the hard things. I lost my mom to colon cancer when she was 49, and watching the hospice nurses care for her inspired me to help others who felt as helpless as we did. That purpose has guided me through every difficult day in my career. I also think grit and perseverance are underrated. I grew up helping my mom with her t-shirt shop in the 80s - I was one of seven kids, and we all had to help out. My mom would make us wear our mistakes, so we learned to have a good work ethic. I ended up having an entrepreneurial heart because of that - I was raised to think not only about my job, but about how to contribute to the success of the business. I've always tried to think in an innovative way, which is why I loved being on Kaiser's innovation team and coming up with solutions like the supply trays. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, I guess. I've been through a lot - losing my family, health challenges, being ostracized from my family at age 18 when I left the Jehovah's Witness religion. Sometimes you just gotta have grit and endurance and strength to get through it. You just gotta struggle through it, and you'll be better for it on the other side.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Know your why. Why do you want to do this? Because one life, it's hard, and it's always gonna be hard. There's gonna be tough days, there's gonna be days when you don't want to do this. Your why is gonna be your North Star. And my why was always what got me through the hard things. I've seen a lot of nurses get into it for the money, and they burn out. They're like, this is too hard, I can't do this. But if you have a clear why for pursuing a career in nursing, it will serve as a guiding star during challenging times.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Our country is having a mental health crisis right now, and there's a huge need for mental health services. That's part of the reason why I'm starting school to become an addiction counselor. I understand from my own experience how easily it can become a slippery slope to rely on a substance to deal with grief or painful things you don't want to deal with. I also want to encourage other women in healthcare to make their health a priority. We're always putting other people first. I could have had a stroke, and how good would I be to my family or kids if I had that happen? Healthcare workers need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk - not just telling people what to do to take care of their health, but also doing those things ourselves.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important values to me are compassion, perseverance, and being there for others who are going through what I've experienced. When I worked in gastroenterology, I could encourage people to get their colonoscopies and tell them about my mom's story - how important preventative care is because she didn't have health insurance and put it off until it was too late. With patients dealing with liver problems and hepatic encephalopathy, I could tell families that I've been in their shoes with my dad, and my heart is there with them trying to support them as much as I could. Being able to support people on their journey in places that I've been is really fulfilling. I also value having a strong work ethic and thinking about how to contribute to the success of the whole team or business, not just doing my own job. I was raised with an entrepreneurial heart - my mom had seven kids and we all had to help out in her t-shirt shop. She taught us to take ownership of our work. I've always tried to think in innovative ways to overcome challenges, whether that was creating supply trays at our office or being on Kaiser's innovation team. And now, taking time to be the mom I need to be and making my own health a priority has shown me that you can't pour from an empty cup. I want to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.