Celebrating Nurses 2009 : Jan Parker
Celebrating Nurses 2009 : Jan Parker
'It's about helping the family and the patient'
Special Sections Writer
If not for a wreck years ago, a lot of people in Greensboro might never have benefited from Jan Parker's nursing care.
A bicycle accident when Parker was 6 years old put her in a hospital for several weeks. "(I) was absolutely spoiled rotten by the nurses, and I loved it," Parker said. "I just thought, ‘What a neat thing to do, to come in and give people something that makes them feel better, and bring them ice cream, and play with them.' ... I said, ‘I want to be a nurse,' and I truly did make up my mind at that young age, and have never wavered from that."
Parker, 60, a native of Hendersonville, earned her nursing degree from Gardner-Webb University and began her career in labor and delivery at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville.
"I always think it's a little ironic that the major history of my nursing has been labor and delivery and Hospice, which is from birth to death," she said.
Parker has worked for Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro for 15 years, now as director of patient care.
"She works tirelessly to find ways to make the staff nurses' work easier and more streamlined to allow them to focus on patient care," wrote Thelma Branson, one of her coworkers, in nominating Parker as an extraordinary registered nurse. "She sets an example as a lifelong learner as she has immersed herself in learning the technology needed for our work, finding ways to improve the electronic charting system and then teaching the staff nurses how to use it."
A long career with Hospice has exposed Parker to all aspects of the work.
"We have to be skillful in all the techniques that a hospital nurse would — blood draws, IVs," Parker said. "We have patients with tracheotomies; we have patients with chest tubes. Skin care is a huge aspect of what we do, being able to assess the symptoms. Many of our patients don't go to the doctor as often, so we become the doctors' eyes."
Hospice care sometimes involves knowing what not to do, she said.
"It's not about helping do what you think is needed — it's about helping the family and the patient do what they want," Parker said. "And that's hard, because as nurses we want to fix things."
The rewards come in bringing comfort to patients and families during extraordinarily difficult times. Parker appreciates the help her family received from Hospice when her mother was dying in 1991, and she likes being able to provide similar help to many other families.
"No one knows how to die, and we try to help people understand how to die on their terms," she said. "That's extremely satisfying. It's sad, but it's also rewarding, because it does make such a huge difference."
- Debra Allen , Rockingham Co. Health Dept
- Diane Bell, Randolph Cancer Center
- Thomas Brown, Randolph Hospital
- Leslie Butcher, Brenner's Children's Hospital
- Lenora D. Clapp, NC Dept of Corrections
- Cynthia E. Knust, Moses Cone Health Systems
- Marsha Roddenberry, High Point Regional
- Marsha Long, Carolina Medical Center
- Jan Parker, Hospice of Greensboro
- Sarah Turner, Kids Path/Hospice
