Inside Duke Medicine
Meet a Great Nurse: Linda Barnett
posted August 11th, 2010Linda Barnett, RN, MSN, BSN, FN, CNOR, clinical nurse III in the OR at Durham Regional Hospital, is one of nine DUHS nurses named a Great 100.
Linda describes herself as a "hands-on charge nurse." She currently works as the weekend/day charge nurse with a team of two other nurses and two surgical technicians.
Linda has been an OR nurse for 32 years (she came to DRH in 1991) and in that time she has grown to understand the breadth of skills needed to be an OR nurse.
"I love perioperative nursing because it is a challenge and it allows me to use critical thinking skills to provide my patients with high quality care," she says.
Linda says that some days she and her team come in and are prepared for a certain number of cases, but everything can change when there is an emergency surgery. She has to be prepared to adapt for the patients' needs on any given day.
She shares a story from one Saturday when she and her team were prepared for four, minor surgeries. They came in to work at 7 a.m. and within an hour things changed quickly. Anesthesia, surgical and nursing staff collaborated to handle an emergency patient situation.
And as a result, Linda says, "Everything went extremely well for the patients." By 5:30 p.m., the team had completed ten surgical procedures, including three emergency surgeries, she says.
It's daily challenges like this that keep Linda committed to continuing her education and growth as a nurse.
"My commitment to nursing is life-long and to be the best patient advocate," she said. "Nursing is wonderful and I just love it!"
Read more about the other eight DUHS nurses named to the Great 100 Nurses in North Carolina.