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MEMORIAL REGIONAL HOSPITAL SOUTH MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PEMBROKE

Khaulah Brice, RN Leah Curtis, RN, BSN, CCRN

Not everyone can survive and thrive in the unique environ- Working on a COVID-19 unit is a daily challenge, even for an
ment of the emergency room, but for Khaulah Brice there’s experienced ICU and ER nurse like Leah Curtis. “You realize the
nowhere in the hospital she’d rather be. “I’m an adrenaline things we take for granted, like spending time with family, can
junkie. Seeing people at their worst moments, stabilizing them, all be taken away in an instant.” The coronavirus experience has
and giving them an opportunity to get better is very rewarding.” also reinforced how much she enjoys the teaching aspect of nurs-
Brice has been part of Memorial Healthcare System for more ing, something she’d like to do full-time when she’s no longer
than 17 years, the first 11 as a trauma nurse. Currently director bedside. Curtis enjoys the process of identifying the strengths
of nursing for emergency services, Brice supervises the functions and weaknesses of less experienced nurses, understanding how
and staff of the ER and coordinates the emergency management they like to be taught, and developing a plan that enables them
team during crisis situations that include pandemics and hurricanes. to learn and grow for the benefit of themselves and patients. “A unit is only as strong as
“I love the culture and can-do attitude here. Whether it’s Memorial Regional Hospital its weakest link,” the critical care nurse said. “We need to grow our co-workers and aid
South CEO Douglas Zaren or the ER staff, they’re always asking ‘what more can we do?’ their development because side by side we can tackle anything. We’re seeing that now.”
and pushing the limits. We want to be the best for our patients.”
Four Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Awards for patient experience indicate the hos- MEMORIAL MANOR
pital is doing just that.
Marta Rivas, RN
Yan (Nona) Ramos, DNP, RN
“I didn’t choose nursing, it chose me. It defines who I am.”
Beginning as a patient care assistant in the Memorial Marta Rivas’ dedication to her profession is certainly appreci-
Healthcare System more than 20 years ago, Yan Ramos has ated by residents and co-workers at Memorial Manor, the short
steadily advanced to the highest degree in her nursing career, and long-term skilled nursing and rehabilitative facility within
Doctoral in Nursing Practice. Currently serving Memorial the Memorial Healthcare System. It’s there that Rivas is a bedside
Regional Hospital South as an administrative officer, Ramos is nurse, helping patients get stronger, back on their feet, and to
ready when critical decisions need to be made after hours. their next destination. “I love this setting,” said Rivas, who
“My passion has always been ER, trauma, and the work that joined the manor community last August. “I’ve made great
gets your adrenaline pumping,” said Dr. Ramos, who took over friends and learn from their experiences. We celebrate what they
the AO position in 2015. “I have the personality for it.” can do, not what they can’t.” It’s Rivas’ goal to make a difference in people’s lives, helping
She cites critical thinking ability and being a team player as the traits that have led to them when they are most vulnerable and being remembered for her kindness. The mother
both administrative and clinical success. It’s an approach Ramos will share with the next of a special needs child, she understands the value of a warm smile, gentle touch, and care
generation of nurses when she begins teaching at Utica College in Miramar when school provided by someone committed to making a difference.
resumes. In the interim, she has been instrumental coordinating mask and PPE donations
from the local Chinese-American community that assist the efforts of those fighting against MEMORIAL HOSPITAL WEST
COVID-19.

\Melissa Perodeau, RN, MSN-Ed
JOE DIMAGGIO CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
A desire to follow in the footsteps of a beloved relative is what
Lussette Dantinor, BSN, RN drives Melissa Perodeau as she leads fellow nurses as the interim
nurse manager of a COVID-19 unit. “My aunt, Jacqueline Moore,
was a nurse for nearly 60 years and took care of people until she
As the director of a pediatric emergency services, Lussette was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 85,” said Perodeau,
Dantinor is part of an emergency department that cared for who was the older woman’s caregiver when she passed away. “I
72,000 children last year, some of them among the region’s most get my strength from her and she’s with me all the time. God
complex cases. In an ER that busy, it’s important for nurses to be planned it this way for me.” Perodeau says coronavirus care is
able to prioritize what’s most critical at that moment, but there both challenging and rewarding, and she’s thankful to be a nurse
are numerous other things that matter nearly as much. during these uncertain times. Her passion is educating newer
“Of course, knowledge of pediatric medicine has to be a given, staffers and she considers it a calling to be a role model for those in the unit. “It’s my job
but I also want my nurses to be kind, empathetic, caregivers that to keep them safe and supported. We’re all in this together.”
are ready for what comes next in pressure situations,” said
Dantinor. “They also need to be tough, because we’re sometimes
dealing with life and death situations.” Vanessa Quiles, RN, MSN, TCRN
A nurse since 2005, Dantinor has spent her entire professional career at Joe DiMaggio
Children’s Hospital. She appreciates the commitment of both administrative and clinical Vanessa Quiles has been a nurse for the last 31 years, 21 of
staff (in Dantinor’s role, she’s both) to provide the highest quality patient and family-cen- which have been dedicated to the Memorial Healthcare System.
tered care and always do the right thing for those in their care. Currently she is a clinical specialist for the Intensive Care Unit,
Cardiac Cath Lab and Interventional Radiology, but she also has
Siobhan Davis, MSN, RN a background in Trauma Surgery and Neuro-Surgical ICU.
According to Ms. Quiles, “All nursing requires quick and critical
thinking. It also helps to be resilient, strong, and compassionate,
As the nurse manager of surgical services, Siobhan Davis sees
herself as a mother to the staff she works with. “Like your chil- especially now that we’re caring for those who aren’t able to have
loved ones visit.” Quiles’ vast experience, which includes having
dren, you treat them all equal, don’t play favorites, listen to their worked in New York City at the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, has taught her to
concerns, and figure out how everyone can work together.” remain calm and support fellow nurses and technicians. “I’ve learned to say, ‘this too shall
Her leadership style allows people to grow in their roles and
improve themselves, most often by going back to school, pass.’ Even when you’re scared, nurses have knowledge and each other, so we’re able to get
better, push limits, and come back again the next day.”
something Memorial Healthcare System’s administration has
always supported. “The culture in our hospitals allows us to ME MEMORIAL HOME HEALTH
pay it forward,” Davis said. “I’ve seen lots of transporters
become nurses.”
Davis started her nursing career more than 30 years ago in her Melrose Maxwell, MSN, RN
home country of England and has worked with both pediatric
and adult patients during 17 years with Memorial. She appreciates the innocent view chil- Melrose Maxwell has been a home health nurse for the past 14
dren have of their circumstances and see a resiliency in them that adults sometimes don’t years and appreciates the more relaxed nature of treating patients
have. in the place they’re most comfortable, but that doesn’t mean the
job doesn’t have its challenges. “We’re on our own and working
without the immediate support of fellow healthcare profession-
als. It’s critical that we have the proper judgement when making
assessments and confidence in our skills.” Part of the Memorial
Healthcare System for the past two years, Maxwell values the
relationships she’s able to form with patients and their families. In
Visit us on the web at one instance, she cared for a man with cardiac issues every week for 18 months and the
www.southfloridahospitalnews.com fear was that he might require a heart transplant. Ultimately, however, the ongoing care
www.southfloridahospitalnews.com
Maxwell provided, along with the proper medication, improved his condition enough so
that he no longer even needed weekly visits. “It felt great to take the patient from a helpless
situation to one where there was the potential for good times ahead.”
South Florida Hospital News southfloridahospitalnews.com May 2020 39