November 3, 2022

Acute care nurses are essential to our communities, caring for patients when they need it most. We recently spoke with a few of our caregivers to find out firsthand why they choose to work at Providence Everett, and learn about their unique career paths and experiences.

Choosing a workplace that resonates with your values

The Providence Mission of serving all, especially the poor and vulnerable, is a key reason many caregivers choose to work at Providence—and nurse Tulena Lammers is no exception. “I was really inspired by the Mission,” says Tulena, who has been a nurse for almost twenty years, and with Providence Everett for the last ten. “I feel a lot of connections and family throughout the whole Providence ministry.”

Marissa Schroeder, who has been a charge nurse with Providence for seven years, thinks that one of the benefits of being at Providence Everett is the “culture of caring. The people I’ve known over the course of the last few years really nurture and mentor new staff.”

Finding the right role for you

Many nurses know what they want to do from the get-go, while others take a different path to find where they fit. For Marissa, caregiving has always been a calling. “I was always kind of drawn toward educating people or improving their health,” she says. “Nursing has been a rewarding job for me and it’s definitely more of an intrinsic calling, like a gut feeling that it’s the right role for me.”

Joseph Pierce, who has been with Providence Everett for fifteen years, felt supported on his path to finding where he fit best. At first, he worked in Med/Renal but after taking a position on the psych floor, Joseph found his home working with long term patients where he could build connections and help patients make informed decisions about their health. “I went to school to be a teacher. I ended up becoming a nurse and then I realized I became a teacher anyway. We’re teaching patients all the time to understand their diagnosis and what they can do to get optimal health out of it.”

Building strong relationships

The importance of these relationships extends to the whole care team. “I get to build team relationships with the nurses, patients, and doctors,” says Tulena, who recently became a charge nurse leader. “Part of the reason I was recommended is because I work on a lot of community-building projects within our unit,” she says. “We have a get-to-know-me board, where we have pictures of all the nurses up and you have a little info biography that’s colorful, engaging. Patients enjoy seeing the pictures, and we’re all reminded that we’re human beings taking care of other human beings.”

“A great day for me is when we all rise to the challenges presented,” Tulena adds. “Work as a team, coordinate good leadership, good response, good feedback. We take very challenging situations, such as a patient who starts coding, and everyone quickly responds.” She adds that the key to success for her, is to “take feedback and grow, and hold on to the wins.”

Growing in your career

“One of the things I’ve appreciated is Providence helped me pay for my degree through WGU.” says Tulena. “I’ve been getting tuition reimbursement working on a few classes every six months to complete my masters in nurse education.”

Joseph has also appreciated the support to move his career forward. “I worked here as a CNA for two years and transitioned into nursing,” says Joseph. “I was mentored and trained and learned and made mistakes and felt supported.” Recently, Joseph has grown into a role as a UPC chair. “I saw this was a place where you can be a voice to upper management,” which makes him feel like all voices on the care team are heard and valued.

“Especially in these challenging times,” Marissa adds, “I feel like you’re in good hands when you start at Providence.”

Could Providence Everett be right for you? Caregivers receive best-in-class benefits that start the day you do—and many nursing roles offer sign-on bonuses up to $20,000. View all open roles.