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Year of the Nurse Feature: Shana Marsteller, RN

As 2020 has been declared Year of the Nurse by the World Health Organization, we would like to take this time to focus on our great nursing staff. They are arguably the most important people in the organization, whether they think so or not. We appreciate the sacrifices they make to take care of us and our loved ones. From working nights and holidays, to being on call and making home visits- they do it all with integrity and courage. They are selfless, caring, innovative, fierce, and much more than we have time to describe. So, nurses, thank you. You do what others cannot, we appreciate you.

With that, BBGH would like to share with you, our community, a little bit more about our nurses; who they are and why they do what they do.

Meet Shana Marsteller. While visiting a family member at the hospital, she saw the caring and supportive interactions the nurses had with her family member, and knew then and there that’s what she wanted to do. Shana did a rotation in the Dialysis Unit at BBGH when she was in school and decided Dialysis was the place for her. She got a position at BBGH shortly after, and is currently the Dialysis Unit manager.

Shana said, “I enjoy getting to know patients and being able to make their days brighter. I also enjoy learning new things daily, both on the nursing side and the management side.”

When Shana isn’t managing the Dialysis Unit or helping to brighten a patient’s day, she can be found spending time with her family and dogs, traveling, going on walks, chasing kiddos, and watching sports.   

Florence Nightingale, popularly known as the ‘founder of modern nursing’ mentioned in her personal diary in the 1870s, “It will be 150 years to see the kind of nursing I envision.” We hope to continue her vision, 150 years later and 150 years from now. In reference to that Shana said, “I would like to see more technological advances without the added cost for the patients. I would like to see nurses be able to spend more time with patients. I would also like to see loan forgiveness programs for nurses (I can only dream).”

As 2020 continues, keep your nurses in mind. They have families, hobbies, and feelings just like the rest of us. The main difference is they are courageous enough to do what we cannot, or choose not, to do.