For the last 16 years, Jennifer Howard, RN, CRRN, has overseen nurse staffing for Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals. She says in that time, her role has expanded and evolved, but she enjoys each new challenge that comes with managing nurse staffing schedules.
“Ultimately, our goal is to make sure our patients have the care they need 24/7, 365 days a year, but I also work very closely with our nursing leadership for recruitment and retention and recognition of our nurses,” Howard said.
The best part of her job, she says, is connecting with students and prospective nurses to show them all Madonna has to offer.
“It’s very, very important to have nursing students experience what we do here at Madonna, because if you don’t have that experience or if you haven’t experienced Madonna in a capacity where a loved one received care here, you maybe don’t understand what it is we really do here and that we are world-class rehabilitation,” Howard said.
Of course, her hope is that students choose to start their career at Madonna, but even if they opt to work somewhere else, she hopes that by connecting with them and showing them what Madonna does will help them better advocate for their patients.
“If their patients need our services, I hope they think of us and they can refer them to us,” Howard said. “In my experience, we have students who take a job somewhere else and they remember their time at Madonna and they come back to us eventually.”
Howard said she didn’t plan to be a nurse, but that nursing really found her. An innate caregiver, she wanted a career where she could make a difference. While in nursing school, she learned about all the different opportunities that exist within the field, including rehabilitation nursing. Her advice to new nurses is to be open to experiencing new things. Don’t limit yourself based on what you think you might want to do. Try everything, and see what works best. She also encourages students to consider more than just money.
“As you explore those opportunities for a job, base rate is important and what benefits a facility offers in terms of like health, dental, that sort of stuff,” Howard said. “Tuition reimbursement, scholarships, those types of things are very important. But, as you experience your different places, what does the culture feel like? What does it feel like to be there? Are you welcomed? Do you feel like it’s a place where you belong and you’re going to be cared for as an individual too?”
For Howard, Madonna was the perfect fit.
“Madonna is a special place,” she said. “It’s where people find hope and healing at a time that’s very difficult in their lives, and I love that we are able to provide that to them. I also have a lot of great friendships that have come from working here at Madonna, so it’s kind of like a second family. But I also like that everyone who works here, no matter what role you’re in, no matter what you do, you impact a patient’s stay here at Madonna.”
If you think Madonna may be a good fit for you, please visit www.madonna.org/nursing for more information and to connect with a recruiter.