CAREERS IN NURSING KEEPING THE BALANCE – BELLEVUE HEALTH AND REHAB CLINIC

by Vickie Jenkins – Writer/Photographer

In an age where the health care field is dominated primarily by large multi-family corporations, Bellevue continues to stand out as a true family-owned and operated business. The closeness and approachability of the Thompsons (the owners) ensures pleasant working conditions for staff and an easy, caring atmosphere for residents and guests of the nursing and skilled facilities.
Families of patients and residents are pleased to be able to enter the facility with ease, and to be welcomed into an environment where visits from children and pets are not only accepted, but encouraged. Patients and residents all benefit from the added excitement. Every single day of the year, there is at least one Thompson member on site. Most days, there are many. It’s that special attention to the individual human being that sets Bellevue apart from the rest.
Here at Bellevue, you will find Stacy Hudson, LPN, Assisted Director of Nursing. With a friendly and outgoing personality, it’s easy to see why she was recently Employee of the Month. Stacy tells that she has been a nurse for 20 years, spending the last year and half here at Bellevue. “This is a great place to work,” she said. “The Thompsons are the nicest people. You couldn’t ask for a better family to work for. They make it easy to work for them, making the staff feel appreciated. They have such a big heart for all of us, along with the residents. ” she added.
Stacy grew up in a town outside of Indianapolis, Indiana and moved to Oklahoma when she was ten years old. “My parents got transferred when they worked for Southwestern Bell. Did anyone influence you to be a nurse? “Yes, my younger sister who was and still is a nurse, two instructors when I went through nursing school and my childhood longtime friend. Even at the age of five, I wanted to grow up to be a nurse. I remember when my best friend’s grandmother made cookies for all the kids in the neighborhood. We all loved her so much. She ended up going to a nursing home. Of course, my friend and I didn’t realize what happened but we knew we were sad when we couldn’t see her anymore. It was at that time, my friend and I faced each other, repeating, ‘cross my heart, hope to die’ sealing the promise we had just made to each other; we would both grow up to be nurses! That was a long time ago. My friend lives in Minnesota now but to this day, we are both nurses. Guess we kept our promise to each other,” she said with a laugh. With her longtime friend, her sister and a few instructors in nursing school, these are the people that influenced Stacy to be a nurse.
What are the qualities of a good nurse? “I think a good nurse needs to have a positive relationship with the staff and residents, good time management, be detail oriented, knowing how to care about others, have a heart for the residents, care about what you do and have the ability to listen,” Stacy answered.
When I asked Stacy to describe herself, she said, “I am very independent, strong minded person. I like to have fun and laugh. I enjoy fishing and camping and spending time with my family.”
“My advice for someone going into the medical field is to take the good with the bad, the ups with the downs, just know that there are all kinds of emotions in the medical field. You have to have a heart for it and each nurse has a specific calling of their own and you will know it when it happens,” Stacy commented.
Stacy’s favorite part of her job is taking care of and getting to know the residents. Her biggest challenge is keeping the balance of keeping the residents and their families happy, along with keeping the staff happy. Although that can be a little rough at times, she always seems to manage to keep the balance.
Stacy enjoys spending time with her two sons, 23 and 19 and playing with her two dogs; one black lab and one mini-pin. She enjoys fishing, camping and taking care of her yard. She travels to Minnesota quite often to visit her family and friends. Stacy’s words of wisdom that she is known to say every day; “The sun will come up tomorrow. Tomorrow is a new day, be happy!”