When Turena Reeves, BSN, RN, VA-BC™, applied for a job as a vascular access nurse in the 1970s, she thought it would be an easy job while she raised her kids. After all, she thought, what is so difficult about getting a call, inserting a line, and leaving the room?
“How wrong I was,” she laughs.
Now, Reeves can’t imagine herself doing anything else. She currently works as a Clinical Educator of Vascular Access at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA. It is a new role, and Reeves secured it from her years of passion for all aspects of vascular access: education, research, technology, and the bedside.
But to get where she is now, she needed to learn a thing or two about the specialty. As part of her orientation in her first role as a vascular access nurse, she had to study a textbook on infusion therapy.
“It was that book that made me realize how much I didn’t know, how much I didn’t understand,” she said. And she was eager to fill in the gaps in her knowledge.
Connecting with other professionals on a national scope
Within her first years on the job, she attended her first Infusion Nurses Society meeting. It was an immediate game-changer for Reeves.
“I could see the support systems in place with others who had the same vision and concerns that I did. It was exposure on the national level that helped solidify that this was real.”
She dove into vascular access headfirst. Surrounded by the new ideas, research, and colleagues with the same drive as herself, she channeled her passion into creating better outcomes for the patient. And she could not do it alone. She became an advocate for vascular access in local chapters of specialty organizations and within her own institution.
“It couldn’t just be me, one voice, that could affect change,” Reeves said. “This knowledge… it can’t be the world’s best kept secret.”
“It couldn’t just be me, one voice, that could affect change. This knowledge…it can’t be the world’s best kept secret.”
Her job now as a Clinical Educator is all about transferring this knowledge to others for the patient’s benefit. She responds to calls from the intensive care units and other departments where rapid and sound decision-making is crucial. By collaborating with the staff, she can help determine the best care strategy and outcome for the patient.
Her time on the floor allows her to see the trends in health care. New technologies, changes in clinical practices or medication uses, and infection prevention updates all get translated to the classroom as the other part of Reeves’s title.
After nearly 50 years in the business, Reeves has seen vascular access come a long way. In 1981, she was interviewed for the publication Nursing Life about the state of IV therapy as a practice. She predicted that one day, the specialty would have its own department.
“I can see it on the horizon,” Reeves said. “It’s going to take a bit of work.”
Five tips to move your specialty forward
To get to that level of recognition for vascular access, Reeves suggested five things:
- Be adaptable. Health care is ever-changing, Reeves said, and staying flexible while working with your organization’s stakeholders—like board officials, executives, and so on—is key to achieving your goals.
- Understand where your organization is headed. Again, Reeves mentions to talk with your institution’s stakeholders to understand what they want, where they see the organization growing, and where it needs work so that you can be the one to help make that happen—and you can be the one to make space for vascular access in that future.
- Think outside the box. Reeves asks readers to not only live by this mindset but to push it one step further: “Outside the box – what box?”
- Focus on your passion. She adopts a mission statement for her practice focused on improving patient outcomes. She advises others to do the same. “Each of us needs to have a mission statement that represents our beliefs – never waiver from that belief.”
- Continue learning. As a strong believer that one should be the expert in their field, Reeves keeps up with her vascular access network to stay connected to the latest research. She can then use this research to state her case with authority, whether it is weighing in on patient care or talking with stakeholders. “You can do that with quality improvement tools and data…But it’s not just volume driven. It’s not about how many PICC lines you put in. It’s about the outcome of the patient with the PICC line.”
Reeves passes on one more piece of advice to expert clinicians like her. It’s timely guidance, as the health care industry sees the retirement of seasoned clinicians. She urges retirees to pass on the knowledge gained from years of experience to their fellow professionals, whether they have been practicing for 5 months or 15 years.
After all, it was the passion passed down from her superiors that ignited her own love for the specialty.
“I can’t tell you how many times I do on the spot huddles in the nurses’ station and the 15-year nurse will say ‘I never knew that.’ That’s OK! Let’s talk about it,” she said. “Leave it behind so that others can develop that passion, understanding, and awareness.”
