CHAPTER 2: Navy/Nursing Profession Takes Well being First Chief From Nice Plains of North Dakota to the Area Coast

Nationwide Nurses Week Could 6 to 12

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – By her personal admission, Dixie Aune is consuming quick and furiously from a firehose as of late – and he or she wouldn’t have it every other approach.

As Well being First Holmes Regional Medical Middle’s new Vice President for Nursing enters simply her third month on the job main a whole bunch of nurses for the area’s largest hospital, she can also be reflecting on a 35-year profession that’s taken her from her childhood house in North Dakota to the Area Coast.

“It’s actually superb to replicate on my previous, but additionally about the place I’m within the second, and concerning the nurses I’m lucky to steer and work with,” stated Aune.

Aune considers her new position at Holmes Regional to be a part of a second chapter to her story – with new alternatives and challenges forward. It’s been an incredible highway from the Nice Plains of North Dakota to the land of sunshine, sand and rocket launches.

Aune was raised by mother and father who have been each farmers. She grew up in North Dakota and was the primary in her household to attend school on a observe and subject scholarship, however whereas nonetheless in highschool, a go to from a army recruiter impressed her to start her army profession.

“An Military recruiter got here and spoke to us throughout a recruiting occasion and spoke about a number of the alternatives accessible within the army. And for no matter purpose, it appeared thrilling to me. I keep in mind speaking to my mother and father about wanting to depart North Dakota and see the world.

“My mother made me promise to not hand over my observe scholarship at North Dakota State College. She was very insistent that I used to be going to go to varsity. So, we compromised, and I joined the Military Nationwide Guard proper out of highschool and spent three years within the reserves and form of obtained increasingly enthusiastic about what the army might provide me.

Quick ahead just a few years and a go to from one other army recruiter (Navy) who touted the enchantment of a profession within the Navy.

“That’s after I explored a lateral switch from the Military to the Navy and acquired my fee after I graduated from nursing faculty. I left North Dakota for sunny San Diego by no means actually considering that the army was going to be a profession for me,” stated Aune.

“I at all times thought I’d transfer again to North Dakota sooner or later. I joined the army with aspirations of being an ER/Trauma nurse, however as an alternative, by the use of the wants of the Navy, I turned a labor and supply nurse and, subsequently, a ladies’s well being nurse practitioner. I continued to have many different lucky alternatives to develop and develop personally and professionally alongside my journey within the army.”

After 35 years within the army, throughout which period Aune would additionally earn a Grasp of Science Diploma as a Nurse Practitioner from the College of North Carolina and a Doctorate of Nursing Apply Diploma in Government Management from Previous Dominion College in Norfolk, Virginia, she retired – simply after the second surge of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I assumed that was it. Time to retire and do all the pieces that I assumed retirement life can be. Spend extra time with my husband and children, extracurricular actions together with half marathons and biking. I actually thought that I used to be prepared for retirement.”

Improper.

A brand new alternative introduced itself within the type of a one-year stint as Chief Nursing Officer for Detroit Medical Middle’s Sinai-Grace Hospital.

“It was a beautiful alternative to steer an unimaginable workforce of nurses at considered one of Michigan’s largest hospitals. I shortly realized that whereas I used to be once more doing what I beloved, Michigan and Detroit wasn’t the place I might see myself long run.”

‘Wellness Begins with We’

And so, Well being First and the Area Coast beckoned!

“I obtained a name from a recruiter that Well being First was on the lookout for a Vice President of Nursing. I had at all times felt after my first Navy responsibility station at Officer Indoctrination College in Pensacola that I’d prefer to get again to Florida. And so, after I examine Well being First, what actually what resonated was their ‘Wellness Begins with We’ motto. I instantly felt an alignment with the Well being First tradition and group,” stated Aune.

“Though my in-laws stay in Florida, I had by no means been to Melbourne. I didn’t know a lot concerning the Area Coast beforehand, however I in a short time fell in love. I’m a Navy woman, so I like the seaside, the solar, and the climate. Everybody has been extremely useful and welcoming. I’ve discovered my spot!”

Aune says that lots of her experiences and coaching within the army helped her to adapt shortly in an ever-changing healthcare atmosphere. Actually, there are numerous people who’ve discovered careers in healthcare after serving within the armed forces.

“The army teaches you about relationships. It’s essential to study to depend on each other – regardless of the mission or goal.”

Though Aune is again for her second go-around in healthcare, she understands all too properly the challenges that at present face the healthcare business post-COVID with many seasoned caregivers retiring, or just leaving the occupation altogether. And extra popping out of college who would possibly aspire to becoming a member of the ranks of medical professionals however who’re reconsidering profession decisions. She has some easy recommendation.

“For me it’s straightforward. Our youngest daughter is a freshman in school and is pursuing the nursing pathway, and he or she asks me usually if I might select the occupation of nursing if I used to be in her place. My response – 100%, sure. I might select this profession many times. I like being a nurse.

“What I might inform a brand new nurse becoming a member of the occupation is there are two focus areas of nursing follow. There’s the science of nursing, and there’s the artwork of nursing,” Aune explains.

“Science is what we study at school. It’s the basics, arithmetic, and nursing analysis. After which there’s the artwork of nursing. The artwork is commonly what attracts us into the occupation, however when misplaced, it’s also what usually drives us away from the occupation.

“It’s these relationships and connections with the sufferers and the household,” Aune stated.

“It’s remembering that first affected person whose hand you held whereas they have been dying. It’s remembering the primary affected person that you just gave CPR to. It’s remembering the primary sufferers who recovered from a trauma and got here again to go to you. Sure, typically it’s even cookies and flowers. That’s the artwork of nursing.”

Aune closes by sharing that in Nurse’s Week and all year long, we should remind ourselves and one another to recollect our “why.” It’s an honor and privilege to affix the Well being First Holmes Regional Medical Middle and Brevard County communities!