Erlinda Laska, ’14 B.S. Nursing
Job: Registered Nurse III, Telemetry Charge Nurse, Sepsis Task Force Chair, Community Memorial Health System (CMHS)
Describe what you do in your job. In addition to being a bedside telemetry nurse, I function as a charge nurse on the Telemetry Unit and Chair of the Sepsis Nursing Task Force. Each role encompasses a different set of skills and responsibilities from placing patients on the bedpan to chairing meetings. Sepsis is an infectious disease process that takes more lives than any other disease process in the U.S., making it crucial to be detected and treated early.
This year, in collaboration with the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) Patient First Initiative and the Medical Simulation Corporation, I coordinated a major training simulation for the Health System on Sepsis. I later functioned as the representative of CMHS in reporting our experience to the yearly HASC Patient Safety First Initiative Conference.
How did your major at CI help you in your current career? My leadership semester as a Nursing student at CI was my first interaction with the health care system. I worked with the CMH Chief Nursing Officer at the time in creating the first training manual for unlicensed personnel, transporters, utilizing the standards of patient-centered care and safety. This training manual continues to be used today to orient and train new transporters. In addition, it serves as a professional standard that these unlicensed personnel are held accountable to. I strongly believe that it was this exposure that landed me my first nursing job, and I am very grateful for the experience I was offered as a student.
What are your long-term goals? While I see my lifelong goal changing as I get more experience in nursing, my academic goal is obtaining a Ph.D. in Nursing from UCLA. I would like to be the voice for other nurses who have not found their voice yet by getting involved in healthcare policy. In healthcare we encounter numerous challenges on a daily basis. My philosophy is: "If you have something to complain about, then do something about it.” I don't ever want to be the person who complains; I want to be the one who comes up with the solution.
Is there anything interesting or unusual about your background or path to CI? I was born and raised in Albania, a small country in Southeastern Europe. I came to the U.S. in 2008 as an international student, speaking only basic English. Within less than a year of school, I had spent my parents' lifelong savings on tuition. I always wanted to study here and I was determined that I was not going to let this stop me. I started working and applied for scholarships and loans. I was and am blessed to have an amazing husband and supportive in-laws, and to be a part of this great community that allowed me to follow my dreams. I graduated from CI in 2014 with B.S. in Nursing, and eight years after coming to the U.S., I am a proud U.S. citizen. It’s an honor to give back to my community, without whose support I would not be where I am today.