Nurturing minds, transforming lives

22岁的娜塔莉·刘易斯(Natalie Lewis)和23岁的伊芙琳·桑托斯(Evelyn Santos)是各自社区的护理冠军.

Natalie Lewis ’22N

护士一直站在解决健康差距的最前沿，这是娜塔莉·刘易斯(Natalie Lewis)的22N和伊夫林·C (Evelyn C)的角色. Santos ’23N (MS), RN, PMHN-BC have never shied away from. 她们都致力于通过照顾社区的心理健康和福祉来改变护士的生活.

Since finishing her bachelor’s degree in 2022, 刘易斯一直热衷于通过精神病学和心理健康护理为她的社区做出贡献——这是她与她的城市保持联系的方式. In addition to her studies, 她是罗彻斯特市危机小组的成员, a group who accompanies police on mental health calls. 她还曾在门罗县儿童拘留中心担任护士.

刘易斯一周的大部分时间不是在学校，就是在做护士和应急社会工作者两份工作. 最近，她回到了罗彻斯特大学医学中心，作为该项目的一部分 Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness team.

Natalie Lewis ’22N

“It’s always been mental health for me. That’s my niche,” said Lewis, 谁目前正在攻读家庭精神病学-心理健康护士执业专业的硕士学位. “It’s so important, especially for African American families. 大多数人会告诉你——“你没有抑郁”，或者“你没有压力”.’”

Growing up, 刘易斯说，她经历了黑人社区关于心理健康的“老派”观念, but she has also seen attitudes start to shift. Her interest in mental health, combined with a natural gift for math and science, 促使刘易斯在布法罗大学攻读她的第一个心理学学士学位.

后来，刘易斯知道，如果她想在临床工作，她需要一个更高的学位. She had considered pursuing a master’s in mental health counseling, but she also felt drawn to nursing. A job as a crisis specialist at Strong Memorial Hospital, 在那里刘易斯和一个行为健康小组的不同成员一起工作, helped confirm her interest in psychiatric nursing.

到目前为止，这也是她作为护士工作中最有价值的部分之一, 门罗县儿童拘留中心和医院. “我能够对年轻人产生影响，并与他们讨论他们的现状以及他们如何在未来做出改变,” she said.

Continuing her education is one of Lewis’ proudest achievements. She is the youngest of six siblings, and the first to go to college. 她感激的不仅仅是有机会为自己建立一个更美好的未来, but to make her family proud as well.

刘易斯说:“看到妈妈开心自豪对我来说是最重要的。. “I want to make her life easier and be able to take care of her. I like knowing she doesn’t have to worry about me.”

Evelyn C. Santos ’23N (MS), RN, PMHN-BC

When Santos joined the School of Nursing’s Leadership in Health Care Systems (LHCS) master’s program, 她已经在罗彻斯特大学医学中心(University of Rochester Medical Center)建立了一个为得不到充分服务的人群奔走呼号的名声.

她在精神病学和心理健康护理方面的多年经验启发了她的工作. Santos is the former lead nurse of UR Medicine’s Lazos Fuertes Clinic, Upstate New York’s only bilingual outpatient mental health clinic. It’s a role that she developed and implemented herself, 利用护士的能力与她们所服务的社区建立牢固的联系.

“Working with the Latino community was personally important to me. 我知道我的工作对病人的治疗结果产生了重大影响，”桑托斯说.

Rochester’s Latino population has more than tripled since the 1980s, according to the Ibero-American Action League. Nationally, Hispanic and Latino communities in the U.S. can face unique barriers to mental health care, such as a lack of cultural competence among providers, immigration status, stigma, or language barriers.

她的LHCS顶点项目专注于优化当地拉丁裔社区的抑郁症筛查.

“这个角色最有价值的部分是倡导文化意识和提供公平的医疗保健服务,” she added. “I completed a needs assessment through a diversity, equity, 和包容镜头，并在我的工作场所使用ipad，用西班牙语用电子方式捕捉抑郁症屏幕,” she explained.

“这个项目为提高拉丁裔患者的抑郁症筛查率提供了机会, 也帮助改善了我所支持的项目中的协作决策策略.”

桑托斯的毕业证书是这个职业的最新亮点，这个职业的定义是为这个不断增长的人口打破障碍. In addition to her role at the Lazos Fuertes Clinic, 她担任顾问，帮助扩大UR医学的西班牙语神经病学诊所, 并制作了一本指南，专门帮助讲英语的护士克服经常干扰护理的语言障碍.

在护理学院学习期间，桑托斯被授予保罗J. Burgett Nursing Student Life Award, 该奖项旨在表彰那些丰富了学院环境并成为变革积极催化剂的毕业生.

Evelyn C. Santos ’23N (MS), RN, PMHN-BC

Just a few months after finishing the LHCS degree, 桑托斯接受了精神科的晋升，成为一名质量与教育护士. 她期待着利用她的护士教育角色带来多样性, equity and inclusion efforts, trauma-informed care, 以及童年不良事件(ace)的影响，成为该部门教育课程的前沿.

刘易斯和桑托斯都知道，他们来到了网赌论坛有哪些护理学院.

Eager to widen her scope of practice as a nurse, 作为一名本科速成生，刘易斯已经有了强烈的归属感. 桑托斯知道她可以推动她作为健康平等倡导者的工作.

“I enjoy the community within the school,” Lewis said. “我在护理学校结交了一些朋友，我觉得这些朋友会陪伴我一生.

“当我为硕士学位寻找机会时，让我印象深刻的是，护理学院的使命是提供一个包容的环境,” Santos recalled. “护理学院将多样性、公平性和包容性作为优先事项. As a minority student, this was important to me.”