The Science Of A Second Career

In her own words, Northside Hospital's Melissa Sugg shares how her passion for people led to a second career in the business side of nursing.

by Melissa Sugg of Northside Hospital-Forsyth, as told to Atlanta Woman

April 3, 2008

During the 1980s and early ’90s, I chose to stay home with my children.  During that time, I continued to pursue freelance jobs related to drafting and space design.  I was also very active in community, school and church activities.  

Soon after moving to Atlanta in 1989, my daughter was diagnosed with a serious medical condition.  Through the course of her treatment, I discovered a second passion for anatomy and physiology and the science of nursing.  Several years later my daughter asked what I was “ going to be when I grew up,” and I suddenly realized I was going to be a nurse.

 
Prior to starting nursing school, I knew that I wanted to care for infants, and I knew that I wanted to care for them at Northside Hospital.  Upon graduation, I accepted a position in the perinatal department at Northside.

Little did I know that Northside would soon be designing and building the original Women’s Center at the Atlanta campus.  I was fortunate to be included in the staff design team.  I also participated in cross-training the staff in a more family-centered approach to postpartum nursing, better known now as Family-Centered Care.  In this model, the mother and baby are treated as a couplet to enhance continuity of care and to improve patient satisfaction by decreasing the number of staff members needed to care for them during this special time for their family.

I had returned to nursing school to prepare for a second career and, therefore, I entered the hospital environment as a nontraditional new graduate.  Fortunately, my managers recognized that my previous experiences were also valuable, but that was not always the case with other nurses.  I soon found myself reaching out to other new employees and new nurses.  I wanted them to have an easier transition into the world of nursing than I experienced.  Obtaining a nursing license is just the first step in becoming a good nurse.  The on-the-job training and mentoring is what determines how successful a nurse will be and how loyal she will be to her institution.

After a few years, I accepted a position as an orientation coordinator in the Family-Centered Care department at Northside.  In this role I facilitated many internship programs as well as orientation for experienced nurses, in addition to providing ongoing education for the existing staff.  Northside’s increasing volume of deliveries, combined with the nursing shortage, made the need to maintain the current staff and attract other top candidates even more critical.
 
At the time, the department had about 400 employees in units spread over several floors.  Coming in as a new employee was very intimidating.  To enhance new employee satisfaction, we redesigned our orientation program.  Part of the redesign was to choose other staff members who also had a passion for teaching and mentoring new employees.  This not only improved the environment for learning, it also improved employee satisfaction for the preceptors and mentors.  Of course, the ultimate goal of all of these changes was to enhance patients’ overall experience.  Increased patient satisfaction, along with decreased staff turnover, indicated early success with our revised “on-boarding” program.

I was promoted to the position of manager and assumed a more day-to-day operational role.  At that time we were also heavily involved in the Women’s Center expansion building project.  I worked with the rest of the design and building project team to coordinate the addition of four floors to our building.  At the same time, we continued to provide high quality care with minimal disruption for the patients and visitors.

During the final stages of construction of the Atlanta Women’s Center expansion, we were also heavily involved in designing the new Women’s Center for Northside Hospital-Forsyth in Cumming.  

To say that it is a dream come true for me to now be the first manager of women’s services at the new Women’s Center at Northside Hospital-Forsyth is an understatement.  Who would have imagined years ago that I would have the pleasure of combining my two lifelong passions on a daily basis.
  
Since January  2008, I have spent 100 percent of my time working toward our August 2008 opening of the new Women’s Center in Forsyth.  It is truly exciting to be part of a brand new service in such a fast-growing area.  In addition to building the Center, we are building a team of people to provide the same high quality of care and compassion that people have come to expect from the Northside Hospital-Atlanta Women’s Center.  I look forward to many exciting years at Northside Hospital-Forsyth.