When Katie Oldham was a new nurse, her supervisor and mentor Nelza Levine kept pushing her to get better.
“She was always bugging me and asking me to do a little more,” said Oldham, nursing unit director for urology, gynecology and general surgery at Emory University Hospital. “Apparently, she saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I wouldn’t see it for another 10 years.”
What Levine saw was the makings of a nurse leader. Oldham became an administrator within three years of earning her nursing degree in 1978 and went back to school for her master’s degree in 1988.
When she was in junior high school, Oldham worked as a candy striper and was drawn to the caring aspect of nursing. Today, she does her caring on different level; she’s responsible for 30 to 46 nurses and technicians.
Oldham has cared for Jennifer Owens for seven years.
“Our unit is fast-paced, with very sick patients,” Oldham said. “They go home with lots of drains and pouches and need a lot of education in a short time.
“Jennifer Owens came to us as a young nurse and turned out to be one of the best educators ever. She used innovative strategies to help patients understand, and she made followup phone calls. Our data showed a tremendous spike in patient satisfaction.”
When Owens was diagnosed with a rare form of Hodgkin’s lymphoma and could not work full time, Oldham met with her chief nursing officer. Together, they created a new job description for Owens, in which she would make phone calls from home 16 to 20 hours a week.
“I’m so fortunate to work in a place that is open to job innovation, a place that gives us the freedom to live what we believe as nurses,” Oldham said.
As Owens’ health and financial situation worsened, Oldham led a drive for co-workers to donate some of their paid time off, and she arranged for transportation and meals for the nurse.
In times of scary procedures, “Katie took off her director hat and put on her patient advocate hat,” Owens wrote in her nomination.
She comforted and taught family members how to care for Owens, and requested that the hospital pay for expensive chemotherapy treatment that the young nurse couldn’t afford.
“What I learned about this experience is that when you are a real nurse, it doesn’t matter what role you are in, your ultimate role is to care for people,” said Owens, who is still battling her disease and working from home.
Oldham cares for her staff by using the same skills she learned as a bedside nurse.
“You have to have compassion, show dignity and respect to everyone, and be nonjudgmental,” she said. “You just have to step back and ask, 'What does this person need?’ That’s what nursing is, and I love it.”
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