One of our very own, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Lisa Sellers, was nominated for a 2022 Women Who Rock Awards by the weVENTURE Women’s Business Center (WBC) at Florida Tech’s Bisk College of Business. The theme this year was “Providing Healing, Promoting Hope,” in recognition of “the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during the pandemic and a recognition of the many ways women are stepping up at this challenging time,” according to WBC’s website.
Lisa, who spearheads VNA’s Hospital Prevention Program (HPP), a new patient-centered home health service geared toward high-risk patients, was nominated by a former colleague at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital where she worked in pulmonary critical care attending to COVID-19 patients prior to joining VNA last year. The criteria for the nomination required that a local health care professional demonstrate extraordinary commitment to patient care.
Clearly, Lisa did this. According to her colleague who nominated her, “Lisa is truly inspirational with the degree to which she cares for people and the lengths she goes to for others without them even asking. She calls family members to provide updates, has been seen bringing birthday desserts in for patients hospitalized while alone, and has brought patients personal care items they did not have but mentioned they wished they did… She will happily pray with, cry with, laugh with, and hold patients and their families in their time of need.”
While not the winner, Lisa is thrilled to have even been nominated, although she does not relish all the attention. “I don’t like to be on the center stage, it just makes me uncomfortable, but it was really a lot of fun to be in in a room full of very awesome women who give to the community,” she says.
It was also meaningful to Lisa as the mother of two teenager daughters. “If I can help someone, and my girls can see that it is not ‘all about you’…that’s important.” And it also aligns with her firm faith in God, who she says “comes first” in her household.
Lisa adds that a key to her success as a nurse comes from working with such great teams, both when she was at Cleveland Clinic and now at VNA, where she has settled in nicely. In fact, this is a return to VNA as Lisa has worked at the organization before, and she’s glad to be back. “You know the home where I’ve always felt most comfortable is VNA,” says Lisa. “They are very appreciative of my role and I’m looking forward to expanding the role and continuing to affect the patients in the community and as well as the staff. I’m excited about it.”
