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Member Spotlight

Priscilla A. Johnson, BS, RN, CRRN

Case Manager Nurse of the Year 2000

Current Employment:  Beacon Specialty Hospital – The Woodlands, an LTACH which    

                                           is part of the Nexus Healthcare System

 

Position:   Director of Patient Services

                    (Part of senior management, the HIPPAA Privacy Officer, Health Information

                    Management, Utilization Review/Management and oversight of clinical

                    Services.)

 

 

ARN Involvement:   SETX Chapter member since 1991

                                    President – Elect             2000

                                    President                          January 2001 – July 2002

                                    Past – President              July 2002 – July 2003

Rehabilitation Nursing Review Workshop Committee

                                    Rehabilitation Nursing Review Workshop Faculty

                                     

How did you become involved in Rehabilitation?

Priscilla has been an RN for 41 years and says she “accidentally fell into Rehabilitation.”

 “ My first brain injured patient who was able to say their first word again, help with their ADL’s and smile when I walked into the room did it for me.”

What Rehabilitation Nursing Means to Me: A Challenge

Priscilla writes, “ In 1986 I had grown very tired of nursing in general and the healthcare industry as a whole.  I had always loved to teach but I did not want to have anything to do with healthcare and there is definitely no money in the public school systems.  The need to be a “two wage earner” family propelled me back into nursing.  I did not want to go too far from home so I took a job at a local “rehab” hospital.  Now remember, I am from the old school.  The nurse was a hard-core patient advocate and always did everything for the patient.

Now segue to this kind of nurse working in rehabilitation.  It did not take me very long to realize that “doing everything for the patient” did not help them attain their goals.  It also did not take me very long to fall in love with rehabilitation nursing.  What a rush!  What a concept!  Teaching people how to do for themselves and helping them to return to a functional life.  I had finally found my “calling.”  The problem with that was that I felt that all of my peers should feel the same way.  “This is not just a job!  It is a challenge; opportunities to educate, etc."

During the past seventeen years as a rehabilitation nurse, I have focused primarily on brain injury.  This is an area that is a constant challenge.  It can also be the most rewarding.  Without the basic philosophy of rehabilitation nursing I would never be able to grow as a nurse on a daily basis, to have so many opportunities to educate, to work in a pure team environment and to impact so many lives.  All of this says what rehabilitation nursing is to me.  I have been a registered nurse for 41 years and have had many wonderful experiences but until I “fell” into rehabilitation nursing, I had not even scratched the surface of my potential. 

Priscilla Johnson, CRRN (and proud of it).

On a Personal Note:
Priscilla adds, “Last but not least, being a grandmother is my favorite thing in the whole world.” 

 

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