April 19, 2021
My Why: Joy Plamann
Ever since I was little, I wanted to be a nurse. Anytime there was a neighborhood accident, whether it was a skinned knee or somebody fell off their bike, I was right there and I would bandage them up, make sure the cut was clean and all that stuff. Then I would wash my hands and just shortly after, I would often faint and end up going to the doctor myself. Same thing if I had my finger pricked or I got an immunization…I would faint.
— Being a nurse has been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.
Throughout my younger years, all I wanted to do was take care of people. I just needed to figure out a way to get over that little thing of fainting when I saw blood. So when I went off to college, my mom honestly discouraged me from becoming a nurse. She said, “Joy, you’re not going to be able to do that. You faint every time and nurses can’t faint.” So I listened to my mom and went off to college to become a teacher. About halfway through my freshman year, I said, “No, Mom. I really want to be a nurse and I’m going to figure out a way to do this.”
I fainted twice in nursing school; once when we were giving each other immunizations and then once when I was an intern here at St Cloud Hospital. I saw my first bone marrow biopsy on a 95-year-old woman and that was really tough. But I told myself that I needed to figure out a way to get over this. And so, I can vividly remember standing in the corner during my nursing rotation in the OR and smelling what I smelled and hearing the saw on the bone during an orthopedic case. Those things are still very vivid in my mind, but I was bound and determined that I was going to be a nurse and I did it.
Being a nurse has been the most rewarding thing that I’ve ever done.
My Why
I’ve been a caregiver my whole life. My purpose, I have always felt, has been to just simply care for others — especially at times when they’re vulnerable and can’t care for themselves. That’s just kind of where my instincts kick-in and, like it or not, I take over.
My Why really stems from a lot of experiences—both family and friends—that have experienced cancer. That started at a young age for me when my older cousin’s son was diagnosed with childhood leukemia. And then as a brand new nurse just recently graduated, my high school best friend, Stephanie, was diagnosed with a terminal brain cancer the week after she was married. I had the opportunity to really walk with Stephanie and her family and her husband through that journey and to be there for them along the way.
A few years after Stephanie passed away, my own mom was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. And, I knew, being an oncology nurse, that most individuals lived less than five years with that stage four diagnosis. My mom had the opportunity to live 10 years and one month actually, because of her grit and how determined she was to live for her family and continue to take care of us.
I remember taking her to many appointments and helping her buy her first wig and so many of those pivotal moments. It’s a very intimate experience when somebody goes through cancer, let alone when it is your own mom, and you are the daughter and the only one in your family in healthcare.
My patients and my family members who have experienced cancer have taught me to listen in a very different way.
My patients and my family members who have experienced cancer have taught me to listen in a very different way. They’ve taught me that there are times to be an advocate when somebody isn’t feeling strong enough to speak up. They’ve taught me to challenge them on the days that they don’t feel like getting out of bed or to walk with them when they might be scared. And I think these are attributes and traits that I bring as a caregiver into leadership.
I’m very excited to begin this leadership journey with everyone across CentraCare and Carris. I couldn’t be more blessed to be in the role that I am today.
Joy Plamann, DNP, MBA, RN, BC
President of St. Cloud Hospital and
Senior Vice President of CentraCare Central Division