Response from Joy Plamann:

My father had a bout of cancer this fall and he passed away in my home. And so there’s a little bit of me where that itch was scratched because I was able to be a bedside nurse again – to my father in my own home as he passed away. And that will be something that I will cherish forever.

Although I’m not at the bedside every day, like you and so many of our patient care team members are, I still think about it every day when I make decisions or assist and try to advocate for where we’re going.

So I feel like even though I may not physically be there, I think there’s an element of just emotion and thought process that still remains at the bedside as I go about a very different job.

I mostly miss my colleagues in a very different way. I miss that different level of teamwork.

I remember working night shifts and if I was assigned as the nurse to take the admission, it wasn’t just my admission. It was the entire floor’s admission.

And we would come in and swoop in like a big SWAT team to try to get vitals and weights done and allow me to do my assessment and start my care plan – all of those things. And I miss that. I miss the patients and their families being able to provide intimate level of care at a very vulnerable time in their life.

Have a question for CentraCare’s senior leaders?

Email: askmeanything@centracare.com