“My mom is a nurse and so is my aunt, so I grew up with that desire to do good for people and be a caregiver. I always saw how much my mom gave to others and how much satisfaction she received from helping other people. That had a huge impact on me while I was growing up and shaped what I wanted to do in life.”
“In 2015, I became a staff nurse in the Modified Care Unit (MCU) at Froedtert West Bend Hospital. I had been working in the Trauma ICU at another hospital, and I was looking for a change. When I interviewed at Froedtert Health, I felt such a sense of community. There is an amazing spirit and so much kindness here. I loved it immediately. After two years as a nurse in the MCU, I became a professional development coordinator for my unit. I was really happy about the opportunity to progress and advance my career. In a nurse educator role, I help with onboarding, continuing education and training opportunities. I really enjoy seeing our new nurses grow. It is such an awesome feeling to watch them come into their own, progress into more critical roles or different roles in health care.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough. Things were always evolving. At first, not knowing what the disease was or how it progressed and trying to support our nurses was challenging. You understand their challenge of maintaining a work-life balance when they were always getting called in because our unit was always full. So part of my job was figuring out how to support them emotionally and give them the spirit to continue on when sometimes it became scary or hard.”
“My grandfather was Navy and my dad was Army. My brother is Army too. I always wanted to serve, I just didn’t have the opportunity until I was a little bit older. I was commissioned as an officer in 2014, where I served with the 452 CSH Unit, in Milwaukee. It was a combat support hospital unit. I was promoted to captain in 2018. Right now, I am inactive as a member of the Individual Ready Reserve. Training wasn’t easy, but it always amazes me how much I got out of it and how much one learns in the military about leadership, morale and supporting others. It influences me at work every day.”
“It has been an honor to help as many people as I can in one lifetime. It is rewarding for me to know that at the end of the day, what I do is helping a patient or my staff. They motivate me to keep going and keep learning.”
− Genevieve Flores, RN, MCU/ICU, Froedtert West Bend Hospital − Professional Development RN Coordinator
