Member Spotlight

ARN Southeast Texas Chapter

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Member Spotlight

Phyllis Lynn Cavanaugh, BSN, RN, CRRN

Current Employment: St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, TMC

Position: Nurse Manager, Rehabilitation

ARN Member Since: 1991

SETX Chapter ARN Member Since: 1991

SETX Chapter ARN Involvement:

- One Year Board Member – 2009-2010
- One Year Board Member – 2000
- Secretary – 2001

Why did you decide to join SETX Chapter ARN?

I wanted to learn more about rehabilitation and rehabilitation issues from educational offerings and for networking with persons from other facilities.

Awards Received:

- 2003 Rehabilitation Nurse of the Year, Nurse Manager

Community Involvement:

MS150 – 2008 and 2009

Exceptional Accomplishment:

I completed the MS 150 just after my 50th birthday and after having been diagnosed with MS 6 years before.

Hobbies, Special Interests:

Reading, bicycling

Previous Experience:

Working in the ICU got me my start in encouraging patients to do more for themselves. This continued with my experience in dialysis. Dialysis patients also gave me more insight into people dealing with chronic health issues.

What Rehabilitation Nursing Means to Me:

I think my rehabilitation experience actually started when I was a new RN working in the ICU. Even though the patients were almost total care, I did what I could to encourage them to do something to help themselves. It wasn’t until I “fell” into the world of rehabilitation that I realized I had found my niche.

As a rehabilitation nurse, I have had opportunities to assist patients and their families and caregivers to take active roles in the recovery from the condition that brought them to the unit. It has been gratifying to be able to see patients improve both physically and emotionally while on the rehabilitation unit.

So, I guess what rehabilitation nursing means to me is to have the ability and gift to support people in their recoveries and to see them show the confidence in assuming their own care.

And on a final note….

I have chickens that sometime lay eggs, but most of the time they are only fertilizing the yard and teasing the new dog from the back window.

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