"Pursue your interests passionately. Even if the path to get to your intended career goal seems unclear (or if you are unclear about what your career goal is), pursue opportunities to learn; be open to new experiences; and try activities that may be out of your comfort zone. All these experience together can help you find your passion and may lead to a dream job!"
Nicole's Career Journey
Following her graduation from Messiah, Nicole worked as a Child Life Specialist at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, PA. During her tenure at St. Christopher's, her areas of concentration included pediatric HIV/AIDS and bereavement support programming for children. Wanting to pursue work in the field of pediatric palliative, Nicole returned to school to pursue her Nursing degree. Upon getting her BS in Nursing from The Pennsylvania State University in 2004, Nicole worked for three years in the pediatric intensive care setting. Based on her background in human development and family science and nursing, Nicole was asked to become part of a team starting a new pediatric palliative care program at Penn State Hershey, where she has functioned in this role since 2007. Nicole says, "HDFS has been extremely helpful in providing a foundation in human development across the lifespan, communication, assessment of family systems, and understanding of stress/ illness on family dynamics. Additionally, preparation in family life education has been useful skill as I frequently develop and implement educational activities for families and professionals. My preparation in nursing alone would not have equipped me to do wok in palliative care. HDFS was essential to my professional role."
Life as a Nurse Care Coordinator
The majority of Nicole's day is spent interacting with patients and families in the inpatient or outpatient care settings. Much of the support she provides to her patients and families is done via telephone. This is done in an effort to keep children and families in their home/community setting as much as possible rather than bringing them to the hospital unnecessarily.
Nicole provides emotional, social, and medical support to children living with life-threatening medical conditions and their families; assists families to identify/access resources that address their unique needs within both the medical system and their home communities; assists families with complex decision-making, identifying goals of care, and advance care planning; provides anticipatory guidance and support through end-of-life situations and bereavement support to families following the death of a child; and provides education to professional caregivers (nurses, physicians, etc.) regarding patient and family centered care, end of life care, and other pediatric healthcare topics.