Meet Shauntel, a Private Duty Nursing RN from our Springfield, MO region!
We asked her, “What gives you the passion to do what you do?” she said, “I grew up with 5 brothers and 1 sister and I was the oldest daughter. Caretaking has been apart of my life for as long as I can remember. I have always loved helping others get better, feel better, and push themselves farther than they thought they could go.
My youngest daughter (Kamryn) was born with a rare genetic disorder and has required a lot of care since birth. This has given me a whole new passion and purpose. God has been preparing me for years. I had no idea that my purpose of becoming a nurse was to one day save my daughter’s life and care for her. I do believe that she would not be here without my nursing background. I thought I had it all planned out, but God always had a bigger plan and now it all makes sense.”
When we asked, “Why Home Care & Why Phoenix?” she told us, “Previously I worked as floor nurse in Neuro/Ortho and then in Pre/ Post Same Day Surgery. I didn’t do home health until after my daughter came home from the NICU. She required so much care and I couldn’t think of anyone better than myself to care for her. I sat at her bedside for 8 long months in the NICU and she was so difficult to manage that you could never train anyone to understand how to properly care for her. She is not a textbook patient, instead she’s creating new research for others to come.
I chose Phoenix because it was recommended by a friend of a family member of mine and she was also a nurse for her daughter through Phoenix. I have loved everyone at Phoenix since working here and have no desire to leave unless my duty taking care of my daughter changes.”
We asked Shauntel what she would tell others contemplating working at Phoenix Home Care and Hospice and she said, “My situation is different being a home health nurse for my daughter, but there are individuals such as her, that really need a loving and compassionate team to care for them. I know several Phoenix team members (Wendy) that really love their job, their patients, and genuinely care for the employees. I feel like that’s what makes Phoenix stand out above other home health agencies.”
Of our X Factor (an important element of our unique Phoenix values), Shauntel says, “I think it’s very important to embody all of these qualities when caring for other individuals. Home health requires you to use previous knowledge and apply it within that setting. Though you can seek help, home health means you’re doing it alone without the instant guidance of others. You must have a good understanding and wide knowledge base for the person you’re caring for. There comes a lot of patience and sometimes certain needs of the patient can be time consuming. Loving what you do and giving that compassion through your care is extremely important. These patients depend on you whether it be short term or long term care, they need a nurse that desires to fulfill their needs.”
Outside of work, Shauntel goes on to tell us a little more about herself. “I LOVE spending time with my little family. Time together is never taken for granted because there was a time we were separated for a long time while my daughter was in the NICU. My husband is my best friend and we have been together since we were 13 (22years), and I love just making memories with him and our girls everyday. We do everything together and we all love just being home. We play board games, have movie nights, sit in the hot tub, hike in our woods, watch for deer, ride on all of our toys around our land, watch my kids play sports etc. We have a lot of family that lives very close so we love to spend a lot of time with them as well.
I love going to concerts but haven’t been in years since before my youngest was born. This summer we are taking our girls to see Forrest Frank for their first concert. My husband and I are finally getting back to seeing concerts, but this time it will be special taking our girls.
I have 2 dogs that I love on a lot. They follow me around all day. We try and give them extra love as they are in their older years. I recently grew and hatched 15 baby chicks that are currently living in my basement until we finish up building their chicken house. Soon I will be tending to our little farm that we are building. I have always dreamed of having chickens and eggs and now it’s all happening.
I enjoy the summer sunshine and working in my yard and will soon have a garden I can work in. I can’t wait to finally get to growing my own food and canning. And there’s nothing I love more than sitting on my big front porch watching my girls play outside.
I love our yearly vacations and plan to go to the beach somewhere this summer. It always nice to have a reset and just enjoy spending time together with my family without the busy everyday life stuff.
God has blessed us tremendously and we have shifted into a simpler life that we are loving so much.”
We are also very blessed to have called Shauntel part of our Phoenix team for about 3 and a half years now. Thank you for all that you do, Shauntel!
