Advocate Network Spotlight
It is my pleasure to introduce to you a wonderfully amazing community member who works tirelessly in our community to comfort and advocate for victims of crime. Her passion and drive inspire me daily, and I am proud to call her a friend and coworker. Please take a moment to learn more about this community hero…
- What is your role at Community Health Network? I am a Forensic RN SANE-A. I can be called to any of the four Community Hospitals here in Marion County for a variety of traumas. Sexual Assault of adults and adolescents (Ages 13+), domestic violence, physical assaults, school assaults, gunshot wounds, stabbings, elder abuse, child abuse, pedestrians injured in motor vehicle crashes, and extreme dog bites. The calls are not limited to emergency rooms, but anywhere within the hospitals that need the services of a Forensic RN.
- What do you enjoy most about your job? Safety Planning – sounds strange, but it is a puzzle on exactly how to keep a patient safe after a domestic violence episode, especially if the patient (of any gender) believes they are safe or they “love” their assailant, trying to explain/teach/reach that some loves are toxic. Is it worth their life staying in that relationship, is this something they want their children to emulate? Within the safety planning is the need for counseling, not just for the patient, but also for children and extended family who is witnessing and supporting the patient.
- What is your favorite drink? Fresh ground medium roast coffee with coconut oils and organic unsalted butter, sweetened with Stevia (a real coffee snob-not expert, just a coffee snob) or currently Ginger Peach Tea. Rough day at work … bring on a large cup of rich creamy hot chocolate.
- Would you rather soak up the sun on a beach or frolic in the mountains? Give me the mountains! I love cool crisp nights around a campfire, the smell of trees, getting up in the mornings preferably brisk almost chilly mornings, a small fire, good coffee and a book to read in total quiet. Blue jeans, light jacket, comfortable camp chair with the intentions of burning / melting ridges on my tennis shoes via the fire. The look, sound and smell of trees, noises of small animals, birds, preferably no bears, a stream or lake, OK put me in a state park.
- If you could give one piece of advice to your fellow advocates, what would it be? Do your best ~ do your best care, continue to do your best at learning daily, do your best at mentoring. Do your best at taking care of yourself after work — work stays at work, if you give your best, learning (anything and everything) helps enrich your life and you can enjoy your life outside of work without regret.
Thank you for sharing with us, Val! We appreciate the work you do in our community, and I know our community is better for it.
Cheers, Network!
Lindsay