For years, Alane Levy was part of the nursing staff at Emory Healthcare’s Reproductive Center. When she became a patient there, that meant moving on and taking a job working for a dermatologist.
Changing jobs and then having a family gave the 43-year-old Norcross resident the chance to create her own nursing business.
“Once I got pregnant and decided to stay home, I knew I wanted to start my own thing,” said Levy, RN. “I believe in the healing power of touch, a very holistic approach to nursing, and that’s what I wanted to do.”
Levy gave birth to Tafkaa Personalized Healthcare, a one-woman nursing service that tailors its offerings to each individual patient. It may mean staying at the hospital with someone who has no family for support, or taking care of a postoperative patient during the first few days at home.
“In this job, I have my hand in different places, from working with patients in the hospital to their homes,” Levy said. “I could be handling anything, from oral surgery to a mastectomy.”
Levy’s reputation has grown so much that most of her jobs come through word-of-mouth referrals from friends and medical personnel. And she’s not just known for skilled care. For Levy, nursing means providing the soothing voice and calming touch that put a patient at ease.
“Sometimes, my patients don’t need me physically, but they do mentally,” she said. “They need reassurance that everything is OK, that it’s going to be all right. I can bring that calming factor to a crazy world.”
The job calls for irregular hours, but Levy’s husband and two daughters are supportive of her work.
“Without question, Alane goes above and beyond her nursing duties, time and again,” Andrew Levy wrote in his nomination. “She has a nose for helping those in need, exactly when they need it.”
On some days, helping means spending two hours in one place, then five hours in another. But Levy loves the flexibility. “It also affords me the time to be home with my kids — even to set my schedule so I get to be the nurse at their summer camp.”
Levy has also been known to drop everything to assist people in need, whether they’re in the hospital or in a car wreck on the interstate. A few months ago, while driving on Holcomb Bridge Road in Norcross, Levy came upon a crash involving a family in a minivan. The parents were transported to one hospital and their child to another.
Levy stayed with the injured tyke at the scene, in the ambulance and at the hospital until another family member could be notified.
“I stop at so many car accidents, it’s become a joke with my husband,” she said. “I’m very calm in those situations and [I] know if you treat people with a little extra love in a crazy moment, it calms everybody down.
“I will never drive by someone in need. That’s part of the place I found for myself. I can take care of patients the way they’re supposed to be — with the mind, body and soul.”
