ISM- MENTOR INTERVIEW ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

Student Name: Jasmine Espinoza Period: 7th Period

Printed Name of Person Interviewed: Erin Quinn, RN

Role of Individual:
__X__Mentor
Place/Name of Business: Jeanie Sealy Hospital

Business Address: 712 Texas Avenue, Galveston, TX, 77555

Phone Number: 409-771-8848

Date of Interview: November 3, 2017

Type of Interview: __X__ In Person

1. For someone working in your field, please describe the fantasies versus realities of the job.
Some fantasies that people may think that come with the job of being a PACU nurse are that doctors
communicate with patients and families like on TV. They have more hands on care, ex. walking them
down the hallways and helping them to them to the bathroom. The reality to that though is that they
walk in to the patients room and ramble some gibberish to the patient then leave.

2. What is your current educational level? What continuing education and training are required?
NC 3- ADN- RN
State of Texas (BON) Board of Nursing requirements
ACLS/BLS/ Yearly Anesthesia conferences

3. Please describe the typical day to day activities of someone working in your field.
Accessing patients post-surgery
Pain management
Patient and Family Education
Working together with fellow nurses, doctors, respiratory
10 to 12 hour shifts weekends, and holidays
Patient safety

4. How secure are you in your current position? What do you think is the future of your field?
Nurses in general are secure in their positions, because no matter what facility you work at there is
always a shortage of nurses. People will always be sick, and nurses will always be in high demand and
will continue to increase in demand in the future.

Revised Fall 2017

5. What is a typical (average or lowest to highest) salary of someone working in your field?

Base salary for an RN is $70,000

Highest salary can depend on overtime, years of experience, education, and type of nursing
specialty.

6. What potential for growth is there in your field?

At UTMB there is a potential for growth because were a learning facility. UTMB is all about education
and helping their employees work on achieving a nursing degree and/or higher. For example, she
worked on a ICU step down unite called Cardio/Thoracic Surgery here she worked with patients that
recently had some type of open heart surgery (like heart transplant, coronary bypass, and valve
replacements), and now she bumped up to a PACU nurse where they work with more of a broader type
of crowd not so specific.

7. What are some boulders in the road that you overcame to get to where you are professionally?
There were two main boulders that Mrs. Quinn had to overcome to get to where she is now. Her first
was deciding to go to nursing school with two small children at home and still work full time, that was a
huge boulder for her to overcome. Second was that nursing school is nothing like the real-world and it
was a challenge to differentiate between the two at first.

8. What has been your most rewarding accomplishment?

Her most rewarding accomplishment was when she was nominated and own the Daisy award at her job.
She was caring for a dying patient past her scheduled shift and made sure she was pain free until she
passed on. This was also very devastating to her to see a patient pass.

9. Who/What is your motivation to help you wake up in the morning and go to work?
Her motivation to wake up and go to work every day is not only her family but it is also for her patients.
She is one of the few many who actually enjoy going to work and seeing people get better after them in
pain. She loves what she does and cant imagine doing anything else.

10. If you were able to tell your younger self something that wouldve helped you in your career
field what would you have told her?
She would tell herself not to be dumb in high school and actually take it more serious and pay more
attention. She also said that boys are stupid and your education is more important than them so to not
focus on them so much.

Revised Fall 2017

 Interview Summary
The things Ill use in my presentation will most likely be:
The typical day in the life of a PACU nurse
How much they get paid
What the education level for this position has to be
That not everything is what it looks like on TV if anything its nothing like it at all
How secure someone actually is in their job as a nurse and really go into depth about how there
are always sick people and we always need more and more nurses.
What facilities you can actually work at if a PACU nurse, I like how UTMB is a growing and
learning facility
What to work on now so I can get an actual job in the medical field
What it takes to be a PACU nurse
How we should handle patients
Important characteristics in the medical work field
What to do in school to better myself career wise
How important education really is
My mentor is a really nice person and shes very funny

Revised Fall 2017