Her Story
About Yesenia
I started my nursing career in school nursing back in 2000, working as a campus nurse first at the high school level and then moving to elementary. After earning my master's degree, I left the field for about 5 years, but I realized I missed it and came back as an RN supervisor for LVNs. When our director suddenly decided to retire, I decided to bite the bullet and apply for the position, and I was fortunate to be selected. Now, as Director of Health Services since 2019, I oversee 22 campuses and about 40 health services staff members, including RNs, LVNs, nurses' aides, and medical assistants, serving approximately 13,000 students throughout our district. My days are spent visiting campuses in the mornings, focusing on those that need more assistance, and then handling administrative work, meetings with parents, 504 meetings, and special education meetings in the afternoons. What makes this work so meaningful to me is being able to assist families whose children have medical concerns and giving them peace of mind that their child is safe and in good hands while they're at work. I'm also a family nurse practitioner, but my passion and full-time focus is on health services direction because I believe that's where we have the biggest impact - making sure our students are well taken care of while they're on our watch. One of my proudest achievements has been advocating for education and professional development for our staff. Under my leadership, we've had CNAs become LVNs and then RNs, and LVNs advance to become RNs - something that had never happened in our district before. I've been blessed to see staff members who started as nurses' aides in high school progress all the way to becoming RNs who now supervise campuses and provide education they never did before.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Yesenia
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I tell students who come to precept with us to make sure they're in it because they care for the patients, and not so much for the money. A lot of people think, oh, you're a nurse, you make a lot of money - yes, that may be true, but it's not all that if you don't have the compassion, the care, the empathy to take care of patients. They have to be in it for the right reasons, and that should be their main reason - because they want to care for somebody that needs assistance at that time. Money can come and go, but if you don't care for your patients right, you're gonna be miserable, and if you don't like what you're doing, you're gonna hate it. Some people get into certain jobs for different reasons, thinking it's all fine and dandy because you're gonna make a lot of money, but if you don't enjoy what you're doing, it's no longer enjoying life - it becomes a chore. I tell my nurses that if you get to the point where you're thinking 'Oh, I have to go to work' and you're regretting it, it's time to rethink - are we here for the right reasons? Maybe you're getting burnt out, which can happen. We're all human, we make mistakes, and sometimes you need to say, okay, I think I've had enough of this floor or this school, I need to move on, because you're no longer being efficient.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
In my work, more than anything, it's making sure we're compassionate, empathetic, and patient with the parents and patients. I think those are the biggest things for me - making sure that not only myself, but our staff show compassion, we show empathy, we show patience. I feel like having that communication and showing that to our parents and our staff and administrators is so important because we set the model of how we're going to care for their patients, their kiddos, our students. It's about being an advocate for people that have needs, regardless of their socioeconomic background or anything like that. I'm here to help - how can I help you? It's rewarding to see the patients you're able to help, or in my case in the school, seeing the parents being like, 'Oh, thank you, nurse, for helping us with those accommodations that you made for our child.' The feedback you get from the parents makes it so worth it.
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