COM employee spotlight – meet Mary Peterson, R.N., M.S.N.

Name:     Mary Peterson, R.N., M.S.N.  

Title:        Nurse case manager, department of orthopaedics   

Hometown:  Omaha, Neb.

Talk about your job and what you like best about it:

My job is case managing patients for Dr. Kevin Garvin. These patients are seen in orthopedics for adult reconstruction and rehabilitation. The disease process may involve osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and various other debilitating bone diseases. Patients undergoing surgery require preoperative, as well as, postoperative guidance through the health care system. Assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation is the process of case managing.

Rewards are so many but the ultimate satisfaction is the patient outcome. The chronicity of their disease can be so consuming for patients and their families. The ability to assist them in returning and or improving their life functions is remarkable, and I am so fortunate to be part of that process. It certainly entails a lot of teamwork, and I am very grateful to have excellent coworkers involved in the process for the best patient outcomes.

Moving to the Lauritzen Outpatient Center has been remarkable for patients and families. Two very evident improvements are the accessible parking and the ease of check-in process. The proximity of radiology impacts the visit immensely. Negotiating ambulatory devises walkers, crutches, and wheelchairs has been made easier due to the layout of the LOC facility.

Learning is lifelong, and working in an educational institution has provided me many opportunities. Examples are abundant. One perhaps is the preoperative conferences I attend every Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. The chief residents present the cases for the joint teams upcoming two weeks of surgeries. The presentations provide an excellent teaching forum. In my approximate 19 years in orthopaedics, I’ve attended about 988 conferences and counting.     

Hobbies:

I have two Kindles and an app on every electronic device I own and well as my husband’s devices.

I guess reading is my number one hobby. This hobby is almost becoming an addiction due to the ease of pushing the download button.

My husband and I are both extreme sports spectators, and we go to just about any sporting event.

If I’m not at LOC or home, you will probably find me at Prairie Life gym.

List three things people may not know about you:  

·         I do not have a Facebook account (I think I may be the last holdout).

·         Humor is very important to me. When you can laugh at yourself, it’s quite empowering.

·         I like daily mass better than Sunday mass (please don’t tell my parish priest).