Allie Sanders, RN Surgical Services
Career includes working in the liver transplant unit at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center for six years before joining Community Hospital.
Allie Sanders, RN, said there were no big surprises when transitioning to HPI Community Hospital North, located in Oklahoma City, where she works pre-op and phase two nursing at the hospital. It was smooth sailing.
However, a lot of learning was involved after coming from a different facility.
Her career includes working in the liver transplant unit at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center for six years before joining Community Hospital.
“I really enjoyed it, but I wanted a change of pace and a different schedule,” Sanders said. “I really like it here. Hospitals are great, but here it truly is a community. You have friends that are going to become lifetime friends. It’s like a family setting. We have great bosses that support you and I like all the physicians. They know your name. They are not just somebody who’s calling. They can trust in you, know who you are and will say hi.”
She will greet patients after they are registered. After asking them a series of questions to document their health history, medications, and allergies. Antibiotics and medications may be given. Sometimes, some shaving and compression hose are provided prior to surgery. Sanders said it’s nice to be a calming person to alleviate their nervous tension.
“You will see somebody when you get them out of the waiting room, and you can physically tell they are just so scared of their procedure,” Sanders explained.
She sees a lot of high school wrestlers, baseball, basketball, and football players.
“It might be someone’s first time having a surgery because we do get teens and people in their early 20s that have just never had anything done, and they’re shaking. Some of them are crying. And you be the person that explains everything, calms them, makes them laugh.”
She tries to get to know young athletes by asking what sports they play and talk about what they enjoy doing — all this to distract their emotions away from fear.
Nobody likes being poked and prodded for an intravenous injection. It’s human nature.
“Everybody is nervous about going back. And that’s the time they have a lot of questions, and their blood pressure is high,” Sanders said. “We just try to smooth the way for them, so they have a good surgery.”
The post-op part of surgery involves taking the patient to “phase-2 recovery.” Education is provided during this time that includes a family member or a primary caretaker. Patients are taught what they will need during their recovery process at home. They learn when their dressing may be removed, if they can put weight on their extremity, and about 911 calls. Patients are evaluated if they need to go home with crutches, ice packs, among other items.
Patients remember Community Hospital, and if needed, will return there for different surgeries. She also assists in pain related procedures. So, it becomes even more common for her to see the same people who return for pain procedures. These patients normally have a series of injections.
The nursing staff is updated on best practices by having quarterly staff meetings. These staff meetings occur sooner when necessary. Nurses learn of impending changes.
“I feel like our anesthesiologists do a really good job here in keeping up with what’s pertinent to the time,” she continued.
The longevity of the nursing staff speaks for an atmosphere of shared governance where nurses’ opinions matter. Nurses bring their learned experiences to the forefront of building careers.
“We all come together and work really well as a team,” Sanders said. “I think if we’ve worked as nurses for a while, we understand how important that is.”
A gift from her career has brought an awareness that as a young woman, she can handle more challenges than she ever dreamed of achieving.
“Sometimes things are really stressful and there’s a lot going on, but I’ve definitely learned how to prioritize and stay focused,” she said.
Sanders said nursing has made her more patient. And she notices that people have more dimensions than she realized.
“Not everything is black and white, and what you see is not necessarily why they are acting the way they are,” she said.
Sanders has come a long way since 2016 when she earned an Associate Degree in Nursing at OSU/OKC, and later achieved her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, located in Goodwell.
Her life is well structured. Sanders recently arrived at work at 5 a.m., an hour not uncommon for many nurses. And she left work mid-afternoon.
“I would say when I go home, I like to walk,” she said.
She enjoys dinner time and trying new restaurants with family. And she responds when family members or friends ask her for advice when feeling sick. Plus, her smile is good medicine. For more information about HPI Community Hospital North visit
https://communityhospitalokc.com.
