Melinda Saunders-Wood\u2019s path to becoming a St. Luke\u2019s nurse began when she enrolled in St. Luke\u2019s VNA Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) in 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband and I had an unplanned pregnancy with our first child, but a beautiful surprise,\u201d explained Saunders-Wood, who will graduate from St. Luke\u2019s School of Nursing on April 11. \u201cAs novice parents, NFP was there to help us as a family. They were an incredible resource in many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a voluntary, evidence-based home visitation program in which registered nurses visit low-income, at-risk mothers from early in pregnancy through the first two years of the child\u2019s life to improve pregnancy outcomes, child health and development and families\u2019 economic self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n
Saunders-Wood, a 38-year-old Bethlehem mother of three, credits the education and advice she received from her NFP Nurse Home Visitor, which taught her a healthy path to motherhood and also opened doors for her at St. Luke\u2019s. They also helped her create a plan to achieve her longtime dream of becoming a nurse, which dates back to her high-school years.<\/p>\n
\u201cNFP helped me understand what to expect during pregnancy, provided early childhood education and identified growth milestones with my child,\u201d said Saunders-Wood. \u201cThrough this experience I quickly realized I wanted very much to work for St. Luke\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
She cites Stacy Huff, RN, BSN, a Nurse Home Visitor in the NFP, and her manager, Tina Wida MSN, RN, with fueling and supporting her passion to take care of women on their journey to motherhood.<\/p>\n
She started on her professional road as a certified nurse aide at a nursing home and then at a local hospital. Then she came to St. Luke’s and worked in the Outpatient Lab as a phlebotomist.<\/p>\n
Saunders-Wood \u201cgraduated\u201d from the NFP program in 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time, I was completing pre-requisites to apply to the School of Nursing program,\u201d she said. \u201cMy nursing education began in 2022, with three children ages 6, 4, and 2.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was accepted to the country\u2019s longest operating nursing school, starting there in August of that year, and using the tuition reimbursement benefit St. Luke’s offers to employees. She has worked nights as a registrar in the St. Luke\u2019s Anderson Emergency Department during her time at the School of Nursing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I love about the School of Nursing are the culture, the support, the community and the people here,\u201d she said with a smile.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s looking ahead to the vast career and learning opportunities she will have as a part of the world\u2019s most trusted profession with the region\u2019s most preferred health system.<\/p>\n
Completing the rigorous requirements at the School of Nursing offers her the possibility to stay with the network that has grown to more than 20,000 employees who are inspired to provide high-quality, compassionate care to residents in the 11-county region they serve in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope to work alongside the nurses in Labor and Delivery at St. Luke\u2019s Anderson Campus who helped me deliver my babies,\u201d she said. \u201cMy long-term goal is to further my education with an MSN in women’s health.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be forever grateful for the people and the programs at St. Luke\u2019s that helped and inspired me to become the mother and future-nurse that I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n
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About St. Luke\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n Founded in 1872,\u00a0St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 20,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 300+ outpatient sites.\u00a0 With annual net revenue of $3.4 billion, the Network\u2019s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke\u2019s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.\u00a0 In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school campus.\u00a0 It also operates the nation\u2019s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 45 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 400 residents and fellows. In 2022, St. Luke\u2019s, a member of the Children\u2019s Hospital Association, opened the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to kids.<\/p>\n SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare\u2019s\u00a0five-star<\/em>\u00a0ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.\u00a0 It is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades\u00a0Top Hospital<\/em>\u00a0and a Newsweek World\u2019s\u00a0Best Hospital<\/em>.\u00a0 The Network\u2019s flagship University Hospital has earned the\u00a0100 Top Major Teaching Hospital<\/em>\u00a0designation from Fortune\/PINC AI 11 times total and eight years in a row, including in 2023 when it was identified as THE #4 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY.\u00a0 In 2021, St. Luke\u2019s was identified as one of the\u00a015 Top Health Systems<\/em>\u00a0nationally.\u00a0 Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the\u00a0Most Wired<\/em>\u00a0award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information. \u00a0The Network is also recognized as one of the state\u2019s lowest cost providers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Information provided to TVL by: Melinda Saunders-Wood\u2019s path to becoming a St. Luke\u2019s nurse began when she enrolled in St. Luke\u2019s VNA Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) in 2016. \u201cMy husband and I had an unplanned pregnancy … Continue reading School of Nursing Grad Inspired by Care from Nurse-Family Partnership<\/span>
\nSam Kennedy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"