I truly enjoy being a valuable part of the team caring for the patient -- sharing compassion and interacting with the patients and their families is very rewarding.

I draw blood from patients and place IVs. I begin my workday by receiving reports from team members on the previous shift. The environment is very fast-paced -- there are always tasks to be handled. I wear a pager and get paged to various rooms to draw blood or blood gases, or to place an IV. There is no typical shift -- everything is very spontaneous. I have a cart that is my "toolbox," and it has everything from gloves to tubes for blood samples, and of course the needles, syringes, IV trays and goggles.

I go to work with a positive attitude -- I really do enjoy my job. Mayo supports us with training and equipment, which creates confidence in my abilities. That feeling of confidence enhances my work performance, which helps me to be a positive part of the patient's life. This is very important to our team and me. You have to be intuitive with other people, sense their feelings. When you come into the Intensive Care Unit, you want to be humble and empathetic toward the people there.

I take great pride in working for such a well-known institution. I truly believe in Mayo's commitment to the quality of patient care, as well as dealing with its employees with integrity, trust and compassion.