Employment Opportunities

Nursing Spotlight: Jazmin, RN, Definitive Observation Unit (DOU)

"We’re There to Care for the Patients"

Jazmin, a registered nurse in White Memorial’s Definitive Observation Unit (DOU), picked White Memorial as her first-choice employer while she was still a student at Rio Hondo College.

“I was really impressed by the staff when I came as a student,” she said. “Everybody was willing to help, and the learning environment here was great. I did rotations at other hospitals, too, but I really liked White Memorial the best.”

Jazmin received a scholarship from the TELACU Education Foundation, which provides assistance to Latino students who are interested in a career in nursing. Following graduation with an associate’s degree in nursing in 2004, Jazmin was hired to work in the DOU, and has been on staff since then. She said she has found her fellow employees to be just as helpful as they were when she was a student nurse at the hospital.

“The people have been very helpful to me,” she said. “I never hesitate to ask for help when I need it, and my co-workers are always willing to teach me.”

Jazmin said she really enjoys the opportunity to care for her patients, assessing their condition, giving them the medications they need and caring for their other needs.

“We’re there for the patients,” she said, “to make sure they’re getting the treatment that is ordered for them.”

Since Jazmin is fluent in both English and Spanish, she can be of particular help to White Memorial’s large number of Spanish-speaking patients and their families. She said she always makes sure to approach family members to let them know that she is there to answer their questions, provide education on how to care for the patient after discharge and so forth.

The personal touch in nursing is what drew Jazmin to the profession. Being able to help both patients and their loved ones, she said, is key to the joy she feels as a nurse.

“I always wanted to go into a career that was satisfying and fulfilling and enabled me to help people,” she said. “I discovered that nursing was what I wanted to do; after a day of work, you feel good about yourself, knowing that you have helped others and that you can make a difference in someone’s life.”

Jazmin was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, where she still lives. She has a tight-knit family that includes her parents, three brothers and three sisters, and she said she really enjoys family get-togethers. She also likes to read and to volunteer in children’s ministries and fund-raising activities at her church.

Jazmin is soft-spoken, but her compassion really shows through in the way she talks with patients and even in the way she conveys patients’ needs to their physicians. At first, she was shy, but she is really growing into a mature and excellent nurse with the critical thinking skills that are necessary to succeed in a unit like the DOU.

— Melinda Azaula, Manager of the Definitive Observation Unit (DOU)

 

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