Women’s History Month: Rachael and Sarah, Clinical Nurse Educators

Sarah Fulkerson, BSN, RNC-NIC

Clinical Nurse Educator, NICU, Randall Children’s Hospital, joined Legacy 9 years ago

What she loves about her role: “Being able to build connections with families and their babies – whether that be supporting them through and advocating for their needs on what may be their hardest day(s) to celebrating their little wins and big milestones like going home.”

What motivates her: “There is always practice improvement happening behind the scenes and we, as a team, are always trying to do better by our patients and their families. Working with such a great team motivates me to be the best nurse I can be for my patients, their families, and my coworkers.”

What got her to where she is today: “On a happy chance, I got a job as a NICU technician while applying for grad school to be a physician assistant. Stepping into that job solidified my decision that nursing, and the NICU specialty, resonated with me and redirected my path to nursing school. As nurses, we are a little bit of everything for our patients – caregiver, advocate, teacher, cheerleader, etc. That is what makes nursing so special in my eyes.

Rachael Waas Shull, BSN, RN, RNC-OB

Clinical Nurse Educator, Randall Children’s Hospital, joined Legacy 10 years ago

What she loves about her role: “I deeply respect the role of a labor nurse, as it a job that requires simultaneously caring for patients while holding the space for a profound moment of life (for the birthing person, and the person being born, and the family), but also being ready to provide competent care in urgent and emergent moments. It also involves caring for patients who are experiencing deep pain and loss, which is something that is not often understood about labor and delivery care. Labor nurses must be prepared for many different scenarios while supporting a patient’s hopes and desires for their birth. The complexity of holding these differing aspects of patient care is one of the things I appreciate and love most about labor and delivery. As I have moved into the role of unit educator, I really enjoy and value the role of support and education for our bedside staff.”

What motivates her: “Wanting the community to have access to high quality care provided by informed and compassionate nurses, and wanting nurses to have the support they need to continue to do the tremendously hard work they face every shift.”

What got her to where she is today: “I came to nursing at 30 years old, after my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and I was exposed to the healthcare field really for the first time. Being a part of her care helped me synthesize that nursing really knits together my interests and passions – I wanted to be part of the force of people who are trying to take care of our communities and working for the better health of our collective future.