Influential Woman · Nursing, Recovery Speaker
Stephanie Kelley
BSN
ICU Float Pool Nurse, Healthcare
Milwaukee, WI
Her Story
About Stephanie
Stephanie Kelley has been a nurse for 27 years, beginning her education in the fall of 1997 after graduating high school early. She earned her Associate Degree in Nursing in 1999 from a community college in Illinois and later obtained her BSN through a hospital program while working. Currently serving as an ICU float pool nurse, she seamlessly floats across four ICU types including the burn unit, cardiovascular intensive care, neuro-ICU, and medical surgical ICU, as well as interventional radiology. Stephanie attributes her professional success to being a hard worker who does her best without cutting corners, maintains good attendance and rapport, and brings an uplifting personality to her shifts. She values honesty, integrity, and staying in her own lane by focusing on patient care without engaging in unit politics or interdepartmental conflicts. As a single mother of three athlete children, she appreciates the flexibility nursing offers, such as weekend-only programs, while also facing challenges like chronic understaffing and the loss of safe nurse-to-patient ratio laws. Her recovery journey informs her values, as she applies principles from her 12-step program to everyday life and instills them in her children.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Stephanie
01What do you attribute your success to?
Being a hard worker, doing the best that I can, not cutting corners, not leaving things for the next shift unnecessarily, showing up with good work ethic, rapport and attendance, and bringing my uplifting happy personality almost every day.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Staying in your own lane, going to work and doing the best job with what you're given, taking care of patients to the best of your ability, and not getting involved in negative talk, unit politics or interdepartmental conflicts. I keep my mouth shut about what's going on in other departments, stay in my own lane, do my job, fill in the hole where I'm supposed to, and leave it there.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Opportunities are endless with openings in every department, and nursing offers extreme flexibility especially for mothers - I could work Monday through Friday, weekend-only programs, or night shifts to fit family needs as a single mother. Challenges include chronic understaffing and heavy patient loads becoming the norm, laws passed that did away with safe nurse-to-patient ratio laws which negatively affect nurses and patients, and dealing with moral distress knowing I could do a better job if I had proper tools.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty, integrity, being a hard worker, raising my kids to have the same values and know the difference between right and wrong. The principles of my 12-step program for recovery apply to everyday life, and I'm instilling those in my children as well.
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