Spotlight on Jerrica Powers, clinical nurse manager for outpatient surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital

Jerrica Powers
Clinical Nurse manager of ambulatory surgery and PACU at St. Joseph’s

Nursing for almost seven years; almost four years with St. Joseph’s/Candler

Education: Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

SJ/C: What made you want to become a nurse?

Jerrica: One good thing about being a nurse is that there are so many different opportunities. There's bedside nursing; there’s clinical competency and education nursing, which I did for almost two years before I transitioned into management. There's management and leadership, which means taking your nursing to a different level of helping build those nurses around you. There's just so much you can do being a nurse. I love to help people, but I'm also very science-driven. I love the science behind things. Being able to use my medical and science knowledge to then help people in their day to day lives is a true passion of mine.

SJ/C: Why did you chose St. Joseph’s/Candler?

Jerrica: My background was ICU prior to moving here. I loved critical care, but I was also looking for some work-life balance because I was getting married; we were having our first baby. I knew that wherever I landed would be my job until retirement. Someone at SJ/C told me about an opening in day surgery and got me in touch with the recruiters.

One of the things that really caught my attention was the mission. I had never worked for a faith-based facility before I worked here. When I read the mission and looked more into the system’s history here in Savannah, I knew this was where I needed to spend my career. You spend so much time at your job, so this was so important to me. Being a faith-based organization and the mission and values that SJ/C represents really spoke to me and everything aligned for me.

Then, my goodness, has my career taken off here. I never in a million years thought I would be in a management position, but some people along the way saw something in me and have helped to shape me into the nurse manager that I am today. I've had some phenomenal mentors and our leadership team within surgical services is absolutely remarkable. I'm just so, so thankful that I get to do this every day. It means so much to me.

SJ/C: What are some of your day-to-day responsibilities?

Jerrica: You have the operational side of things – making sure things are working properly in the department, staffing, filling vacancies, interviews, reports, timecards; making sure the department has the staff and the resources that they need to do their job day in and day out. One thing I don't know that I was quite prepared for, but I have really grown into, is people managing. It’s more than just “managing a department.” These are people's lives. I'm so grateful for my teams. They're absolutely phenomenal. I worked as a staff nurse in my department before moving into leadership, so I’m also that first call for when something doesn’t go as planned. They're quick to call me and say, ‘Hey Jerrica, we need help with this.’ So the operational side is business and very important, but then I still get to hop in and do some bedside nursing. I can go start IVs in day surgery or wheel patients from pre-screening up to the orthopedic class on the sixth floor or transport patients from PACU upstairs to their inpatient room.

We have high-volume days and low-volume days. It’s important to remind people that this is day in and day out for us, but not so much for the patients coming in for surgery. I've actually had surgery here, and being on that end is terrifying. Being that blanket of comfort for patients and their families is a huge part of what we do.

SJ/C: What do you love about being a nurse?

Jerrica: Honestly, it's making a difference. I know that probably sounds so cliché, but it is true. You really do make a difference in your patients’ lives. The compliments that I hear about of my nurses are touching. I love to go and give that feedback to the staff. It shows them that they are appreciated. What you're doing and the care you’re giving does not go unnoticed.

SJ/C: What does it mean to you to be a magnet nurse?

Jerrica: It means to provide an environment to be heard as a bedside nurse. As the educator of surgical services, I really pushed for surgery to get more involved in professional governance and have more staff meetings and in-services to get more feedback from the bedside staff. That's one of the things I really try to pride myself on now as a nurse manager, is making sure that bedside nurses are involved. Sure, I could be there, but I really want bedside staff to be there to hear what they're saying about the hospital and give their feedback. In surgery, we're constantly doing process improvements. We're trying to see how we can make this the best experience for the patients. How we can make this the best workflow for the staff. None of which is possible without feedback from the staff. I think that's the biggest draw to me; being a Magnet facility is getting bedside nurses’ input.

SJ/C: What is some advice or what would you say to new nurses or those even considering a career of nursing?

Jerrica: Absolutely do it. There are so many opportunities in nursing. You can go into bedside nursing. You can go into nursing quality. You can go into home health. Even in bedside nursing, there are so many different specialties. You can go into med-surg, critical care, surgery, rehab, labor and delivery, pediatrics; this list goes on and on. There’s always going to be a job in nursing. There's always going to be stability. One of the factors that helped me choose my career was knowing that I could go anywhere in the world and have a job. I didn’t realize it at the time, but you touch so many lives in healthcare. A huge part of job satisfaction for me is feeling like I am truly making a difference in the lives that I am touching, whether it is that of the patients or the staff.

Family: Husband, Stevie; son, Trey (3 ½) and daughter, Livi (15 months)
Hobbies/Interests: Pilates, running, boating, playing in the park, family walks and bike rides