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VITAS HEALTHCARE - PALM BEACH COUNTY VITAS HEALTHCARE - BROWARD COUNTY
Lisa Powers, RN Timicka Kennedy, LPN
Home Care Hospice Nurse Telecare Nurse

A nurse since 1989, Lisa Powers always knew she wanted Timicka Kennedy has spent a fulfilling 22 years as a nurse,
to make a difference in the world by helping people. After including over two decades at VITAS. “In nursing school, I
graduating from the University of Connecticut with a degree was afforded the opportunity to spend a portion of my clinical
in nursing, Powers spent her early years as a hospital and education at a VITAS inpatient hospice unit,” she explains. “I
traveling nurse in Hawaii, Virginia, and Washington DC. It was assigned to work alongside a nurse named Richard. I
was around that time that Powers met a hospice nurse, wit- could see the difference he made in the final days of his
nessing firsthand the impact of compassionate hospice care patients’ lives.”Now Kennedy spends her time touching the
on patients and families. Today, she is grateful that the bulk of lives of her own patients at VITAS. For Kennedy, it’s not a career but a calling. “I know
her 30-plus-year nursing career has been dedicated to comfort-focused end-of-life care. I may only get to visit a patient and family one time while they’re under our care,” she
“It’s always an honor to take care of patients as they are dying,” she says. “To take care adds. “I strive to make a connection during that one nursing visit that will make a pos-
of them physically and emotionally, and their families—it’s such a special part of their itive, lasting memory. In the words of Maya Angelou, ‘They may forget my name, but
life, and to be a part of that is very gratifying.” they will never forget how I made them feel.’”

Carrie Gibbons, RN
Hospice Admissions Nurse UHEALTH -
THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HEALTH SYSTEM
Carrie Gibbons has dedicated more than 26 years of her life
to nursing, with the last year and a half as a VITAS hospice
admissions nurse. Eryka Grant, BSN, RN
“For many years, I have wanted hospice nursing to be the
culmination of my career,” she explains. “I knew that by now, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center
I would have the clinical knowledge, experience, and emo-
tional strength that hospice requires.” Eryka Grant, R.N., has been with the Hematology
Gibbons was initially drawn to the hospice profession’s Oncology Clinic since 2014, is the sarcoma team lead nurse,
array of opportunities, from hands-on patient care to admin- and our primary charge nurse on the unit. Eryka has
istrative roles to the fact that end-of-life care can be provided excelled and been flexible with a constantly changing clinic
in a variety of settings anywhere in the world. “I knew I could find fulfilling work, no environment in the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. She
matter my stage in life or location,” she says. always has her patients’ best interest at heart. Eryka is well
“Facing the last chapter of a loved one’s life is difficult,” Gibbons says. “I hope and liked and trusted by her peers and is often the sounding
pray that my work can make this time easier for everyone involved.” board for their ideas and concerns. She is instrumental in clinic process improvement
projects, talking up her teammates, and ensuring fairness among team members. She
is well organized, a patient and colleague advocate, and is always willing to go above
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VITAS HEALTHCARE - TREASURE COAST and beyond for her patients, colleagues and providers. She is often seen as the voice
of calm during hectic clinic days and has been extremely flexible and adaptable to
Bernice Worley, RN clinic workflows, staff changes, and in-person/telehealth visit shifts throughout the
Inpatient Hospice Unit Nurse COVID-19 pandemic.

Lauren Caldevilla, BSN, RN
As a nurse for 14 years, Bernice Worley found her calling in
hospice care. That’s why she joined VITAS two years ago when
it began providing end-of-life care in Martin, St. Lucie, and Lauren Caldevilla is a clinical nurse educator for the COVID unit at UHealth - the
Okeechobee counties throughout the Treasure Coast region. University of Miami Health System. She is responsible for teaching doctors, nurses
“When I began my career as a nurse, I was a single mother and hospital personnel how to properly use maximum barrier protection. During the
with five children,” Worley explains. “I felt drawn not only for health system's most strenuous time with high patient volume and nursing shortages,
financial stability, but as a devout Catholic. God was calling me she worked tirelessly to onboard and train hundreds of ICU nurses. She rounds in the
to fulfill his plan for me.” unit when asked to make sure protocols are managed appropriately. Caldevilla
For Worley, supporting and meeting the needs of patients and families during one of received her Bachelor's of Science degree in nursing from Barry University. She began
the most critical experiences in their lives is unlike anything she has experienced. her career at UM in critical care in the surgical intensive care unit. Her transition into
“The demands of a hospice nurse require great compassion and excellent communi- serving as a clinical nurse educator allowed her to combine her love of teaching and
cation skills, with emphasis on listening,” she says. “But there is nothing more rewarding passion for nursing. She has received awards, including the “Good Catch Award” and
than being at the bedside of someone who is leaving this world and entering into a new several Daisy Awards.
beginning.”

Tammy Blackford, RN
Home Care Nurse

Though Tammy Blackford has been a nurse for over 20
years, she says she discovered a true sense of meaning when
she transitioned to VITAS in 2020 after spending a majority of Subscribe to...
her career as an emergency room nurse.
“I like guiding the families through the hospice journey,”
she says. “It gives me a feeling of meaning.” SOUTH FLORIDA HOSPITAL NEWS
Looking back on her time at VITAS, she feels lucky to help
families and their loved ones as they near the end of life together. & HEALTHCARE REPORT today!
“My bonds with the families mean the world to me,” Blackford says. “It’s like I become
part of them. Going to work every day for me is no longer a chore. It took me many years Subscribe online at
to find what I actually love. I continue to work in the ER once a month to keep up on
emergency medicine, but I really feel hospice is where my heart belongs.” www.southfloridahospitalnews.com
or call 561-368-6950

44 May 2021 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News