JNESO

After 40 years in the same profession, mostly in the same location, you would think a person would be counting the days to retirement.  Not Jill Wagner.  After 35 years as an Emergency Room nurse, instead of clocking out, she took on a new challenge in the Short Procedure Unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono.

“I really like taking care of patients,” said Wagner, “sometimes it is sad, but helping people and seeing good outcomes is very rewarding.”   Although she loved working in the ER, it was time for a change.  “I loved the adrenaline rush, but I can use the same critical thinking and multitasking skills in any specialty. That is one of the best things about nursing, you can make the transition and have so many different opportunities and specialties to choose from.”

No matter what unit she works in, Wagner said it is the interactions that she has with patients that really keep her going.  “I really enjoy having a rapport with patients.  In the ER and SPU people are anxious and don’t know what to expect.  So, I talk to them – not at them,” she explained. “I ask them questions about their family, where they live and what they do for a living, and about their pets. I would even pull up a photo of my cat and we would compare our pets.  That puts people at ease and has a real calming effect so they aren’t as anxious.” 

The need to help others also extends to her fellow nurses, something she is able to do as part of JNESO the professional health care union.  She is an active member and served five years as the Shop Steward for the JNESO local unit at LVH-P.   “JNESO has been very supportive and over the years they have gone to extreme lengths to help our nurses.”  She explained, “As a Steward I was there for them, so if someone had a grievance or an issue I was their back-up, they knew that they had someone in their corner who they could count on to listen and make sure they were treated fairly - they knew they could call me.”

She encourages nurses to get more involved with the union.  “Everyone wants fair wages and good benefits, but it’s much more than that. Going to meetings helps you stay informed about what is going on in the hospital – outside your unit bubble – and helps prevent issues proactively.”

She added, “We are fortunate to have a strong union that is able to ‘power-up’ our members,” said Wagner. “We appreciate the union, what they are doing, and what they can do!”

Wagner credits her mother for guiding her career path.  “My mother was an ER and OR nurse, and she used to bring me home empty plastic syringes and supplies to play with and I remember having a pretend white nursing bag with a red cross on it.  She really instilled in me the drive to become a nurse,” said Wagner, who is the middle of three generations of nurses, including her great aunt and her own daughter who is an ER nurse.  “There is a lot of nursing history in my family.”

When she isn’t helping others at work, Wagner spends her free time watching her grandkids compete at sporting events – wrestling, softball and baseball, taking trips with husband to go salmon fishing on Lake Ontario, and of course spending time with her two cats (Lilly and Minsi Buddha) at her home in Saylorsburg, Pa.

As for retirement, “I am looking forward to retirement after having a long productive career as a nurse,” noted Wagner.  “Nursing is in my blood. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”