Third-generation nurse thrives within ‘culture of support’
Telemetry nurse says the family-like atmosphere starts with trust from teammates, leaders
For Keegan Wells, nursing is a family affair.
“Both my mom and my grandma were nurses,” says Wells, RN, BSN, a telemetry nurse at University of Iowa Health Care’s downtown campus. “It was my grandma who always said she thought I’d be a good nurse.”
While his grandmother died several years ago and his mother has retired, both had several nursing jobs in the Iowa City area during their careers, including at UI Health Care, the Iowa City VA Medical Center, and Mercy Iowa City.
While Wells was working as a certified nursing assistant at a long-term care facility in college, his grandmother heard some feedback about how kind and patient he was with the Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. She encouraged him to shift away from getting a degree in English and switch to nursing.
“She told me with a nursing degree, I could go in so many directions, and if I still wanted to pursue writing, I could write for a nursing journal,” Wells says. “I took her advice, and I am so happy I did.”
A unit that feels like family
It’s not only the family connection that drives Wells’ enthusiasm for his role. Fast forward a few years and now he finds himself working on a unit that feels like family, too. And just like his family that encouraged him to become a nurse, his team has a real “culture of support,” as he calls it.
“It’s not uncommon to hear teammates ask each other, ‘Hey, how are you doing? Do you need any help?’,” he says.
He says the culture he experiences at work is similar to the one in which he grew up—a team that naturally functions well together.
As a telemetry nurse, Wells and his unit are responsible for monitoring heart rhythms and oxygen levels using sensors that collect data and transmit it back to equipment that can read it. Many of his patients have suffered heart attacks or have congestive heart failure, and need continuous care as they recover. He says strong leaders who advocate for a team approach are essential as nurses go on and off shift and need to coordinate care.
“It all starts with camaraderie and trust; and our leaders do a great job of fostering an atmosphere of support by providing it themselves,” he says. “It’s almost the inverse of what you would think—we as the team are not there to bolster our leaders; the leaders bolster us.”
This takes the form of clearing obstacles, evaluating, and updating outdated processes, securing necessary equipment, and finding better ways to obtain needed medicines, for example. Wells says his leaders are not just advocates for patients, but for the nurses on the team, as well.
“It is obvious my manager cares about each one of us as individuals,” Wells says. “To her, we aren’t just resources.”
For example, Wells shared that when one of his nurse colleagues had a family emergency, his manager “moved heaven and earth” to be sure the colleague could leave the hospital and still have all their patients cared for adequately.
Wells says he is thankful for the great team he is part of, and noted that everyone is very willing to switch shifts or cover for a teammate who needs to be away from their role.
A collaborative approach to patient care
Wells believes he fits in so well at UI Health Care because he sees parallels to his own family and the way he was raised. As one of nine kids, his mother learned teamwork, collaboration, and collective problem solving, along with providing support for one another in both good times and bad. She instilled these principles in him, as well.
Wells says his leaders and his team work collaboratively to find solutions when problems arise.
“What I have found is that instead of being called out for making a mistake, we use the incident as an opportunity to discuss how things could have been handled differently,” Wells says. “The focus is very much centered upon improving skill sets, not pointing fingers.”
Working on a team that centers on a collaborative, unified approach to patient care is what Wells appreciates most about his job. From nursing, to providers, to dietary, environmental services and beyond, Wells says everyone has a focus on providing excellent care and a positive patient experience.
“While we know a hospital stay isn’t something patients ‘enjoy,’ we do strive to make it an experience where they feel cared for and feel heard,” Wells says. “And it is that spirit of focused effort that makes UI Health Care an extraordinary place to be.”
While Wells’ grandmother didn’t get to see him graduate from nursing school before she died, she did pass along words of wisdom that still resonate with him today.
“She told me to have empathy for everyone you meet, regardless of how they might treat you,” Wells recalls. “She said, ‘Patients are often scared and need empathy more than ever. Treat them like they’re a member of your own family.’ So that’s what I try to do.”
