Healthcare workers talk about their jobs during National Nurses Week
Seen here at the Lompoc Health Care Center, Michelle Coleman-Tornquist, a supervising staff nurse with the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, said she strives each day to do the best job she can. Mrs. Coleman-Tornquist recently received the department’s Nursing Excellence Award.
Knowing they’ve made a positive impact on their patients is rewarding.
That’s according to three dedicated nurses who are part of the profession being honored during National Nurses Week.
Jennifer Fernandez, Michelle Coleman-Tornquist and Kelly Barragan are nurses who work in different areas at the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. These three talked to the News-Press, giving their take on public health, nursing in the pandemic, advice to current and future nurses, and their experience in nursing.
Ms. Fernandez, a registered nurse for the department’s Santa Maria Health Care Center, graduated with her RN degree in 2013 from Allan Hancock College and has been working as a nurse since 2014. In 2001 Ms. Fernandez received her medical assistant certification from Allan Hancock College.
“I have always had an affinity to help others, and I get so much joy in caring for others and making a difference,” said Jennifer Fernandez, a registered nurse for the Public Health Department’s Santa Maria Health Care Center.
Prior to working for the health department, Ms. Fernandez worked for almost 20 years for Sansum Clinic, first in Santa Barbara in the endocrinology department and then in Lompoc, before the Lompoc location was bought out by Lompoc Valley Medical Center in 2018. Ms. Fernandez worked as a medical assistant for Sansum Clinic until 2014, when she transitioned to working as a procedure nurse. “I did my schooling at night while doing medical assisting full-time … Being a medical assistant has allowed me to become the nurse that I am today because I saw the work that it took,” Ms. Fernandez told the News-Press.
She also received her bachelor’s in nursing from Western Governors University in 2022.
Ms. Fernandez started working for the health department in April 2019. “We are such a good team, the communication and teamwork is so great,” said Ms. Fernandez.
Ms. Fernandez explained what inspired her to become a nurse. “I have always had an affinity to help others, and I get so much joy in caring for others and making a difference.
“Honestly it is making a difference and being able to help. I like to be the person that they can count on. People really feel better when you build a rapport with them. People feel better when they love the nurse and they know they can count on the nurse.”
Mrs. Coleman-Tornquist is the supervising staff RN at Lompoc Health Care Center for the health department. She received her RN from Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo. Mrs. Coleman-Tornquist has been a nurse for 25 years and has worked for the health department for 19 years. Prior to working for the department, she worked at San Luis Obispo Hospital until it closed.
Mrs. Coleman-Tornquist was recently awarded the Nursing Excellence Award by the Public Health Department.
“Our director of nurses sent out a request for submissions through the admin department, and I was nominated for it by Jeanie Sleigh, the healthcare administrator and Dr. Andrew Frerking,” said Mrs. Coleman-Tornquist.
“I was very honored to receive this recognition. I strive each day to do the best job that I can, and it was a big surprise to me to receive this as it is a new recognition for the clinics. I wish I could give the award to all my staff because everyone working collaboratively helps to make my job easier and satisfying,” she said.
Mrs. Coleman-Tornquist said her favorite thing about nursing is: “Just knowing that when we make an impact on patients that they are feeling better. When you are able to see when they are feeling better and up on their feet and walking around, I just love that aspect.”
Her interest in health care started when she was in junior high school and serving as a candy striper at Vandenberg Air Force Base Hospital.
“I just really enjoyed working with the patients and being able to take care of them and from then on I knew I wanted to be a nurse,” Mrs. Coleman-Tornquist told the News-Press.
“For anyone interested in working in public health, if you are in it to help the community and prevent disease, public health is really the place to be. There are so many opportunities, and it is really a worthwhile job.”
Ms. Barragan is the director of the health department’s Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Program. She received her bachelor’s in nursing in a joint bachelor’s nursing program from St. Mary’s College and Samuel Merritt College. She also received her master’s in advanced practice public health nursing at UC San Francisco.
Ms. Barragan has worked for 16 years as a nurse, and the last eight of those years she has worked for the health department. Prior to working for the health department, she worked at various local hospitals.
“I feel like nursing found me. I knew in high school that I knew that I wanted to do something in science,” Ms. Barragan said. “During my senior year my mother had a quadruple heart bypass, and I really got to see what nurses do in a hospital and home care setting. The reason why I chose public health, I always knew I wanted to work in public health even in my undergrad level. We work on a population level to promote health, and I wanted to make a bigger impact in the communities that I serve.”
Ms. Barragan discussed her favorite aspect of nursing.
“I would have to say that it comes down to being able to support communities that I live and work in to have better health and well being, and to increase access to needed services to those communities. That is really my guiding star in the work we do. Public health really focuses on community level intervention and the challenges we face and how do we do so collaboratively. We can’t do it alone. Public health is everybody.”
The nurses gave their perspective on working through the pandemic.
“Working during the pandemic has been a challenge as everyone has been torn between their jobs and the safety of their families with COVID,” said Mrs. Coleman-Tornquist. “The many theories about COVID made healthcare even more challenging as people did not know who to trust with information. When we had our first mass vaccination clinic in Lompoc that was led by our clinic, it made me proud of our community on seeing how many people did the research on the vaccine and came to get vaccinated.”
Ms. Fernandez said the pandemic has proven to be challenging, but she knew she could rely on an amazing team, which included doctors, medical assistants, registered nurses, supervisors and receptionists. “We all reassured each other to get through that time.”
Ms. Barragan sees the pandemic as a time of not only challenges but extreme growth.
“I had the opportunity to work in different expanded capacities that I don’t normally do on a day-to-day basis. I got to do contact tracing on a large scale; being able to be a leader in that time was a growth period for me and with others in our department and community partners. That is what really pushed us through in helping to mitigate this disease.”
These experienced nurses offered advice to other nurses.
“Take one day at a time because it has been really challenging during COVID. You are not going to know everything in your first year. You will always be learning as a nurse. Really listen to each other so you can learn from each other,” said Ms. Fernandez.
“Always be open and wanting to learn. Keep up with the latest technologies and stuff because there is so much out there for us,” said Mrs. Coleman-Tornquist.
“I would say in nursing because there are so many opportunities in nursing, and I would encourage other nurses to look at other opportunities, especially public health. It is a different type of nursing working at a community level. It is a very gratifying career path with many different programs,” Ms. Barragan said.
“The most important thing I have learned over the years is how important it is to really listen to my patients,” said Mrs. Fernandez.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
