Pat Hummel, RNC, MA, NNP, PNP
NICU
Why did you choose to work at LUHS?
I chose to work at LUHS for many reasons. My husband's job re-located us to the area in 1988. I worked at community hospitals until 1994, when I started at Loyola. I wanted to return to a university setting with a Level III Neonatal Unit. I looked around and decided that Loyola was the best combination of academics, clinical practice and location, and I felt that it would be a good match for me professionally and personally.
I have been working at Loyola for more than 11 years. Previously, I had worked in nine different hospitals; my longest previous employment was four years. I always tell people "I love what I do and who I do it with." I work with the best people on the planet! They are great professionals and wonderful people. My job is challenging and rewarding. I am NEVER bored. The combination of caring for infants and families in the NICU and evaluating them in the developmental clinic is optimal for me. It is a nice combination of high technology and high touch.
How many years have you been working at LUHS?
Since 1997
Where did you attend nursing school?
Iowa Central Community College, University of Kansas, University of Iowa
Was your first job here at Loyola?
My first job was not at Loyola. I had worked in nine other hospitals before I came here and had done some teaching and home care. I have always worked with infants and children, in pediatrics, pediatric intensive care, neonatal intensive care and newborn nursery.
What do you like most about your job?
I like the combination I have of high-technology and high-touch care. I have a lot of variety in my work; I'm never bored.
What is something that you are doing today that you never imagined you'd be doing when you first began your career?
I am traveling around the United States, speaking to nurses and physicians about neonatal pain assessment and management. As part of my work in the NICU, I created a pain assessment tool for neonates, and it has become the most widely used neonatal pain assessment tool in the United States and also is being used around the world. It has been translated into several languages.
What's the nicest thing a patient has ever said to you?
I love talking baby talk to my patients -- and they talk back! Seriously, one of the best parts of my job is talking to parents -- helping them through a very stressful time. I often have parents tell me that they appreciate the time I spend with them and appreciate that I am able to talk to them at their level.
One memorable experience: I discovered a heart murmur in a baby in the NICU, a twin, a few weeks old. Very quickly, the cardiologist discovered that she had a serious but correctable heart defect. I had to phone the parents; they came to the hospital quickly, and I spent a lot of time with them that day. Later that evening, the bedside nurse told me that the parents wanted to talk to me again. I was exhausted and could not imagine what else they could want to ask me. When I got to the bedside, the parents said, "Thank you -- thanks for helping our baby and us through this." I was stunned that these people, under that much stress, could be so thoughtful.
"Thank you" is the best thing a parent can say. I just received an e-mail today, from a parent of a four-year old former preemie, thanking me. I have received a Christmas card and picture of a former patient every year, and he just graduated college! On one picture of him running cross country track, he had written, "Thank you for taking such good care of me, Mrs. Hummel!" It is a privilege to be a part of this miracle of birth and survival against the odds.
What qualities do you believe are necessary to be a successful nurse?
Caring, intelligence, love people, love a challenge, love learning, a passion to improve care and outcomes and good communications skills