MEMBERS MAKING A
DIFFERENCE
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Leading a legacy Shelley Schwartz, RN, CNOR, RNFA |
Shelley Schwartz, RN, CNOR, RNFA, found her professional calling during an OR visit while in nursing school in 1974, and she has been a leader in perioperative nursing ever since.
Driven by the need to gain education and advance her practice, Schwartz pursued neurosurgical nursing soon after graduating from nursing school and working as an OR nurse. She published articles, lectured on neurosurgical nursing and became an active member in AORN and other nursing organizations. While raising four children, she continued to advance her profession and education. Her strive for challenge subsequently led her to the cardiac operating arena.
Most recently Schwartz earned her RNFA. In order to do this, she was challenged to establish an RNFA program at a local Philadelphia hospital in order to complete her internship practice hours. She attributes her success to the encouragement of her mentor, Jane Rothrock, DNSc, RN, CNOR, FAAN. Schwartz has just started her new position in charge of the cardiac operating rooms at Frankford-Torresdale Hospital, a division of Jefferson Health System in Philadelphia, where she hopes to someday attract more RNFA's to work with surgeons.
She says her passion to care for others is rooted in genetics. Her grandmother, the late Ida Mintzer, an Austrian native who came to America in the late 1800s, worked her way through medical school to become one of the first female physicians in the United States. Her aunt, Claire Fagin, is a world-renowned nurse and a former dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. Schwartz's mother Joan is also a successful nurse who gave Shelley her first taste of nursing at the age of 12.
"My mom was in charge of the ER and I started helping out by taking paper records from incoming patients. By age 13 I was working as a nurse's aide in the ER-you were allowed to do that back then. I stayed at the hospital until I was 18, when I entered nursing school," she explained. Her daughter Sarah recently graduated from nursing school, continuing the family legacy.
"The hallmark of my career is my love for learning. I love to utilize what I have learned and teach this information to others," she said, stressing how important it is to share knowledge with the next generation of nurses.
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