For Michelle Lundstrom, nursing is more than just a job. It’s a calling that she discovered at a young age. And now as the Chief Nursing Officer at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, Michelle is on a mission to elevate care not just for patients, but also for her staff. “I take great pride in making sure that the person who’s delivering care has the support they need every single day.”

The leap into leadership

When Michelle started at Providence over a decade ago, she didn’t envision being in leadership. “I was just going to come in and take care of patients,” she says of her role in the ER, “and then one day we had a code that went sideways, and when I shared with my supervisor that we needed some education, she said, ‘Great. What are you going to do about that?’ She invited me to be part of the solution, and that was my first step into leadership. After that, the supervisor position opened up, and I applied and slowly moved up.”

According to Michelle, it’s the culture that made her growth possible. “It’s not a top-down approach. It’s a model of shared governance. Staff participate in the decisions that direct care.” This sense of belonging is part of why Michelle first chose our organization. “I’ll never forget the day I interviewed,” she says. “From the moment I walked in the door, I felt warm, I felt invited, as if I was already a part of the team. The panel asked really interesting questions about me as a human—not just about my experience in school—and the staff were very kind and accepting. I remember thinking, okay, this is a safe place to be a new nurse. I’m so glad I chose to work here because that feeling really is part of the Mission. It’s who we are. It’s how we care for each other and our community, and I want everyone who walks in the door to feel that same way.”

Michelle has learned through experience that this culture of caring extends to the greater community. “The work we’re doing here is really impactful,” she says. “We care for the poor, the vulnerable, and many of our patients don’t have adequate money or resources. We have patients who come in who are homeless, who are sometimes suffering from opioid use, who might be having a stroke, a heart attack, or another life-threatening illness, and we have to make sure that we have the skills, the staff and the ability to care for them, and do so in a way that they feel honored and seen.” This impact also extends beyond the hospital doors. “We have outreach programs for behavioral health and substance use disorder.” In her role as CNO, Michelle also holds a board position on the Project for Ending Homelessness.

A culture of innovation and education

Part of what Michelle loves about working at Providence Everett is the energy to innovate. “Right now, we’re working on innovative staffing models, and it gets me super excited. And, yes, I geek out, and sometimes, I’m up reading stuff at 4:30 in the morning, looking at what they are doing on the east coast. I’m thinking, ‘What could we do? What is the tech industry doing, and how can we apply that here?’” She looks forward to sharing ideas with the rest of the team. “We have a staffing steering committee with bedside nurses and leaders that meets every Friday, and we strategize about how to best address needs and then listen to staff feedback about what works and what doesn’t.”

New ideas can also come from the continuing education available to all caregivers at Providence Swedish. “It’s built right into their contract that staff can get reimbursed for training, college, or certification in your specialty,” Michelle says, “That’s a badge of honor to say that someone is an expert in their area, and we love that. It’s so important that staff feel confident doing what they need to do.”

Taking care of each other

When Michelle looks toward the future, she sees opportunities to strengthen the caregiver family even further. “The pandemic was devastating to caregivers,” she says. “And so, the vision moving forward is to recognize when we are emotionally drained, and that it’s okay to say we need help.” She sees a hopeful path forward. “At the beginning of the pandemic, we were just in survival mode. Now, it’s time for us to start dreaming again. I think the sky’s the limit, and I’m interested to see where we go.”

For Michelle, her career has taken on new meaning. “I get to do the most amazing job in the world,” she says. “I had always dreamed of being a nurse. I take that very seriously, and I’m very proud of that, but I now get to pay my experience forward, and that is huge. This work takes your brain, it takes your heart, it takes your personality. To be able to walk into a room where someone is potentially going to die, and do it with grace and dignity, to be present when babies are born, to save a life, to do CPR on someone and watch them walk out of the hospital a week later, that happens here every day. And, if you’re doing it right, you’re exhausted. You’re emotionally drained. You’re mentally drained. You’re physically drained. And so in my role, I get to be the nurse to the nurses, and that’s pretty cool.”

Welcoming nurses, from new grads to seasoned RNs

Michelle remembers being a new grad and trying to figure out where she wanted to work, and her message is simple: “I would say, come in and meet us, and you will see that this is a great place to start your career. To make friends, to build a family and to grow. This is a great place for new grads to come in and get the training they need, and it’s a great place for seasoned RNs to come in and get the support and family that they need, because we don’t do this alone. And when we come together as a nursing team, it’s a beautiful thing.”

“I love the way that we invest in our workforce and in each individual,” she adds. “I really appreciate that it is important for our leadership team to get to know the people that are working here, not as a group, but as individuals.”

She also sees Providence Swedish making strides to address diversity and equity. “I think we’re just at the tip of the iceberg of making sure that we grow a diverse and inclusive workforce. We’re growing in the way that we approach our interview process and our onboarding process.”

As we look to the future of nursing, we take heart in knowing that there are dedicated professionals like Michelle who are making a real difference. Michelle says the best days for her are when she’s spending time with the people she’s serving. “I love touching lives. And I love watching the team as they grow, and our nurses come into themselves, and how they connect. To watch people grow is probably the most amazing thing.”

If you’re interested in joining our nursing team, see all roles.