Her Story
About Sarah
I've been in healthcare for 17 years, and I'm a nurse by trade. I started in non-traditional nursing, working in long-term care units, which was hard knocks through and through. That experience opened my eyes to the fact that we needed to do better for our patients. My mom spent a good portion of the end of her life in a hospital for the last few years, and she passed away at a young age. That really opened my eyes that you need to take care of yourself and help take care of those around you, and you need to be able to support yourself. This drove me to go back to school for my RN, my BSN, my MSN, my nurse practitioner degree, and ultimately my doctorate, so I could make a difference for patients within the facilities. Now, as Director of Clinical Integration for Neva Health, I bring together Neva Health with long-term care and assisted living facilities, merging the two together to ensure that patients are receiving high-quality wound care within the facilities. I feel like that's where I'm at and what I'm doing now - helping them receive better healthcare within the institutions.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sarah
01What do you attribute your success to?
My mom spent a good portion of the end of her life in a hospital for the last few years, and she passed away at a young age. That experience really opened my eyes that you need to take care of yourself and help take care of those around you, and you need to be able to support yourself. Seeing what she went through drove me to pursue all of my degrees and to dedicate my career to making sure patients in long-term care facilities receive the quality healthcare they deserve.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Don't stop learning. That advice has stayed with me throughout my entire career and pushed me to continue my education all the way through to my doctorate.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Support each other. In healthcare, we eat our young, and that's something we need to change. It's so important for women in this field to lift each other up and help one another succeed instead of tearing each other down.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is trying to break that notion of 'if it's not broke, don't fix it.' We're reactive, not proactive in healthcare, and that drives me crazy. We need to shift our mindset to being more proactive about patient care instead of waiting until something goes wrong to address it.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty and teamwork are the values most important to me. I believe in being straightforward and transparent in everything I do, and I know that we can accomplish so much more when we work together as a team rather than trying to do everything alone.
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