Sabrina Ashworth works as an RN in the Emergency Department (ED) at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. For Sabrina, nursing runs in the family. “My aunt worked for Providence,” Sabrina recalls, “and she just seemed so happy. And I remember being young and thinking like, that is the coolest thing. She gets to take care of people and really change their lives and she’s impacting these people forever.” For her high school senior project, Sabrina shadowed an emergency room nurse. “And that’s when I decided I wanted to do emergency room.”

An exciting challenge every day

Sabrina got her degree in nursing at Hawaii Pacific University, and when she came home to Washington, she applied up and down the I-5 corridor. “I job shadowed from Bellingham to Portland.” What made Providence Everett stand apart was her interview. Sabrina felt a connection with her interviewer and remembers the conversation fondly. “We talked about all the different experiences that I would get at this hospital, and she said, ‘There’s always an opportunity to learn here. We get everything coming through that front door.’ And I was like, okay.”

Sabrina thrives on the pace and diversity of the caregiving experience in the ED. “I love emergency medicine in general. You’re taking these super sick people and then you also have someone that comes in with something like ankle pain. You have such a range of patients that you’re taking care of, from they need Tylenol, to we need to intubate them and get them up to the ICU. You’re constantly thinking on your feet, and you never know what you’re going to get. And I love that.”

Sabrina had only been on the job a few months when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and Providence Everett treated the first patient in the U.S. “All of a sudden we were flooded,” she says, “It was the busiest I’ve ever seen the ER, but then our numbers dropped because the community was really scared about coming in. Since then, we’ve gradually built back up.”

A chance to grow your skills and career

One of the things Sabrina values most about working for Providence is the chance to learn and develop different skills. Providence offers a robust suite of opportunities for professional development. RNs have the chance to grow and change specialties through the RN Fellowship Program. Sabrina has been taking advantage of learning right in her unit through the NW Clinical & Nursing Education Program. “I recently did the stroke program and I was on a meeting with all of the neurologists reading CTs from cases that I was a part of in the ER, so I got to see what happened to them. You don’t always get those learning opportunities.”

Emerging from the pandemic has also allowed for the return of the skills fair, where the Everett nurses teach skills to one another. This event is popular among the staff, and Sabrina is grateful not just for that feeling of camaraderie but also for the chance to share knowledge. “I think everybody’s always kind of eager for that growth, whether they admit it or not.” An opportunity like the skills fair, she adds, “makes you more excited about different things in your job. You learn it, and then you get to apply it out on the floor.”

Sabrina is also looking forward to the chance to get her emergency nurse certification. “I’m in this place where I just want to get all the information and education that can. I feel like I still have so much to learn.”

A network of support

While Sabrina likes the pace and variety of the ER, working in a busy environment isn’t always easy. “It can be challenging.” But Sabrina says that the key to success and happiness is her team. “Everyone here is really personable and transparent. We have a strong band of people. We’re a team. We’re a family.” Sabrina points to the senior nurses in particular. “They’re willing to come in and help out whenever you need, and that’s huge. You don’t just find that at any job. Some of them are the most amazing humans I’ve ever been around in my life. I’m so thankful for all of them.” Sabrina also feels a strong sense of support from management. “Our management team wants us to have all the resources. And I think when you know you have people in your corner, it makes you want to stay.”

A good day means helping and asking for help

For Sabrina, a good day is knowing that she helped her patients and coworkers. It’s also important to her to see the impact her work has on families. “The other night we had a guy that was in a really bad motorcycle accident. And the family member just gave me the biggest hug. And she’s like, I’m so thankful for you guys and all that you do. And you go home realizing the work I did mattered.”

Sabrina’s advice to someone starting out in her field is twofold: “The first thing would be to ask all the questions,” she says. “Because there’s an endless supply of them, and there will be a lot of things that you don’t know because a lot of different patients come in.” Her second piece of advice is to know your limitations. “Be on your toes because you are going to kind of get your butt kicked, and just know that’s okay, and also know when you need to start calling out for help.” With every patient, Sabrina says, there’s a chance to learn and get better. “I feel grateful to have found something that I love doing.”

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