A walk in a nurse’s shoes highlights local nurses at HCA Florida Englewood Hospital

ENGLEWOOD, Fla. May 26, 2023 – Exceptional care for patients is built on the selfless acts of comfort and kindness from nurses and other frontline caregivers on a daily basis. They see patients through their weakest and most vulnerable hours.
 
During Nurses Week, HCA Healthcare West Florida Division Vice President of Nursing Operations Elaine Polaski spent a morning "walking in a nurse's shoes" at HCA Florida Englewood Hospital. She traded in her business attire for nursing scrubs and laced up a new pair of orange running shoes. Throughout the day, she shadowed Amanda McKee, RN and StaRN Natalie Dzhuga with the hospital’s Progressive Care Unit.
 
The job shadowing experience has become an annual tradition that has helped leadership gain insight into the hard work that goes into each nursing shift while also identifying opportunities and creative ideas for continuous improvement.
 
Together, they cared for patients, provided wound care treatment, completed medication administration and performed patient assessments.
 
In addition to her nursing responsibilities, Amanda is currently coaching Natalie, a recent nursing school graduate participating in HCA Healthcare’s StaRN program for those who wish to obtain acute care nursing experience through an intensive internship. The program is primarily designed to provide the graduate nurse with the tools necessary to succeed in today’s hospital environment.
 
"It was a great opportunity to interact with Amanda." said Polaski, "I was able to talk to Natalie and get insight about  her StaRN journey, talk about the process of precepting and really supporting our new nurses." She continued, “It was a great opportunity for us to really experience what they are doing every day as they provide quality care to our patients and see how we can better support them as they go about their daily work.” 
 
When asked what the “walk in a nurse’s shoes” experience was like, Amanda said, “I learn from not only our leaders, but our students. There is always that opportunity. We all work together and we learn together.”

Watch the video for the full story. 

Learn more about the StaRN Graduate Nursing Program, HCA Florida Englewood Hospital and follow the hospital on Facebook.