Carolyn McGarvey brings years of experience as a registered midwife in Scotland and 20 years of nursing in the states to the bedside as a staff nurse. But for her, it all boils down to this: The patient has to be No.1.

"My motto is, I just want a patient to be treated the way I would want my mother to be treated," McGarvey said. "People come in with all their problems and their hang-ups, patients are terrified and they are looking to you to give them reassurance and care. I would like to think that in addition to clinical expertise there is the human compassion, too. That is why I've always stayed at the bedside. I'd like to think that my patients feel as if they can trust me and I've given them good care."

Safety is an important issue with McGarvey. Nurses, she said, have to think about what they're doing and keep up with procedures, new tools and continuing education. She trained on the computer in order to help nurses at the bedside make better use of that tool while they were giving care. She also is an instructor for the neonatal resuscitation certification program, teaches electronic fetal monitoring classes and was instrumental in arranging to have classes offered on the unit so L&D staff wouldn't have to wait to get into UMC staff development classes. (This also helps the unit orient new staff in a timely manner.) McGarvey also serves as a preceptor for new graduates or staff coming in from other areas, and often is specifically requested, thanks to her reputation as an excellent preceptor.

Being so involved in training and teaching gives her a high level of confidence in the ability of the nursing staff to provide excellent care to patients and babies. "That is a highlight for me, to see it all work together, our education and our bedside manner," she said.

McGarvey serves on the unit-specific clinical practice committee as well, participating in decisions about changes in direct bedside nursing practice. In that capacity, she provided data to support the need for another RN in the evaluation room on day shift and helped develop strategies for providing the extra nursing support.

In addition to her professional responsibilities-managing high-risk labor and delivery patients, charge nurse, preceptor, evaluation room triage RN and PACU RN-McGarvey volunteers as a school nurse.

She first took on that responsibility when her oldest son started sixth grade at a charter school with 45 students. Today, the school has more than 200 students. She makes policies and procedures, keeps immunizations up to date, teaches CPR and basic first aid to the teachers, conducts vision and hearing screenings and does pretty much whatever else is needed. "We need to make sure these children are safe. I'd never done anything like it before, and it is using my brain in a totally different area."

She now has things running well at the school and lets the office staff take more of the responsibility, but she alternates her 12-hour shifts at the hospital with days at the school whenever possible.