Upstate Senior Living 2020

62 | SL 30 www.UpstatePhysiciansSC.com | www.HealthLinksUpstate.com AMY ANDERSON, RN, BSN Amy Anderson graduated from Lander University’s bachelor of science in nursing program in 1997. She now works in home health as a case manager for Health Relat- ed Home Care, and she said she wouldn’t have it any other way. “I grew up knowing that I wanted to be a nurse,” Anderson said. “There was never anything else I wanted to do. My mother was a nurse and both my sister and I went into nursing.” She said she has had the fortunate opportunity of working in many different aspects of nursing – from inpatient and community settings and with many different age groups. But she said she found her pas- sion in home health. “Elderly people have always been my favorite group of people to work with,” she said. “It’s the most rewarding job both professionally and personally that I’ve ever had.” She concluded that nursing is one of the hardest fields but also the most rewarding: “I’m always learning something new and am always blessed by my patients.” DANA MORTON, RN, BSN Dana Morton, a home health nurse with the Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in Greenville, felt the calling to be a nurse at the age of 12 when she was diagnosed with insu- lin-dependent diabetes mellitus. “I had passed out with hypoglycemia at summer camp, and the nurse there was the first person I saw when I came to. She saved my life and looked like an angel to me,” she explained. This was when she decided to become a nurse. Morton worked in hospice for 12 years. She was the vice president of operations for a local hospice company before she decided to leave and pursue her lifelong dream of being a nurse practitioner through a program at Walden University. “Home health has given me the opportunity to manage chronic dis- ease, and, as a nurse practitioner, I will do just that,” she said. Her advice to aspiring nurses is to always advocate for your patients and to “never stop pursuing your dreams.” HEIDI KELLER, RN, ADN For Heidi Keller, nursing was a career path she knew she wanted to take as a young teen when she would visit her grandmother in a nursing home. “I love helping people and spending time with others, especially the elderly,” she said. She now works in home health for Health Related Home Care in Greenwood. Her favorite part of her job is getting to know the patients. “I like the fact that I can be more than a nurse to them. I really get to know who they are as a person, and I can make a difference in their lives,” she said. Her advice to aspiring nurses is to make sure they take care of themselves, which will help them take care of others: “Follow your passions and enjoy your job as a nurse. I thank the profession of nursing for keeping me interested. I love my career.” T H E P U L S E O N UPSTATE NURSES HealthLinks Upstate has partnered with Health Related Home Care to highlight some of the Upstate’s top nurses. NICOLE MUELLER, LPN Caring for people, both young and old, is a privilege that Nicole Mueller gets to enjoy as a nurse for both East- side Pediatrics and Harmony at Five Forks, a senior living community. “When deciding what I wanted to do after high school, I went back and forth between becoming a teacher, social worker or a nurse. I knew I wanted to help people,” she said. She spent time in a pediatric office during one of her clinical rotations and fell in love. “I knew that pediatrics was where I would land,” she said. Mueller got her first job at a pediatric office in Spartanburg and now works for Eastside Pediatrics in Greenville. She decided to broaden her horizons about a year ago and took a weekend job at Harmony at Five Forks. “It was way out of my comfort zone, but I have learned so much and thoroughly enjoy my time with the assisted living community there,” she explained. Her advice to new nurses is to stay adaptable and teachable: “Things are always changing and updating in nursing, but that is what keeps it interesting.”