Page 196 - BAYADA Our Brand Guide

One Tough Cookie
Everyone who knows Brunilda “Cookie” Sanchez knows what it means to be inspired to care. Her story shows a tireless spirit driven by the desire to excel and give back.
When Cookie was five,
she sustained third-degree burns that led to a month in the hospital. She loved the individual attention of the nurses who doted on her, and the inspiration stayed with her.
Cookie volunteered as a candy striper and knew she wanted a career in health care, but the road wasn’t easy. Pregnant at 17, she dropped out of high school. She earned her GED and took a course at a local hospital to become a certified nursing assistant, then completed
a licensed practical nurse (LPN) program while working at a nursing home. She then served as an oncology nurse at an academic hospital for 10 years.
Then she added a part-time job to her schedule as bilingual clinical manager for BAYADA in North Philadelphia. The two
jobs helped Cookie put herself through a registered nurse (RN) program while raising her two daughters. But she didn’t stop there.
Cookie earned her BSN online while working full-time as an RN, then took a case manager job. She hadn’t worked at BAYADA for some time, but the director of BAYADA’s assistive care office in Philadelphia had never forgotten Cookie and called her with a
job offer.
Cookie now works as a Clinical Manager for BAYADA in Harrisburg, PA, advocating for her clinicians and solving client problems. As if that weren’t enough, she’s President of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, which provides support and scholarships to aspiring nurses.
BAYADA