WNA has so many incredible members making a lasting impression in nursing. We think it’s about time that everyone else knows about our incredible members, too. That is why we have a Member Spotlight series on our website. This is the space to showcase your talent. Tell us about your remarkable research, your touching stories, the obstacles you’ve overcome. Show us—and the world—what it really means to be a Wisconsin Nurse. Fill out your form to be spotlighted! WNA Member Spotlight Questionnaire

For our next member spotlight, we have Yvette Egan from the WNA Board of Directors. 

What is your name (and credentials)?

Yvette Egan, RN, MSN

What have been your roles at WNA / how long have you been a member?

I have been Director-at-Large on the Board of Directors and the Board Secretary (current position).

Where do you work?

I work full time at the UW Madison School of Nursing. I work half-time at the UW Hospital in the Medical-Surgical Float Pool.

What is your job title?

Clinical Assistant Professor and Clinical Nurse

What do you do in your job?

At the School of Nursing I am a clinical instructor having students at the bedside and in a lab setting. At the UW Hospital I work where-ever I am needed.

Tell us a story from your job (or a past one).

I was a PICU RN at RUSH in the early 80’s. Computers were just coming out. We had primary nursing (RUSH pioneered primary nursing) and I was “sending home” out first ever ventilator dependent patient. I developed all the home teaching and placed the home teaching on a “floppy disk” for the staff to access later for other discharges. We got the foster mom a computer so she could access her discharge instructions easily at home. We had the patient for five years prior to the discharge and it was quite the event to discharge her home to a very devoted and loving foster mom who was at the child’s bedside daily. The advent of computers was so new that we had to teach the foster mom how to use it. The foster mom was a trooper.  Looking back on the experience, at the time, we had no idea that computers would be used exactly like we used it for complex home care needs.

What do you do in your free time?

Travel. Read. Garden. Visit with family.

What are you passionate about?

My own children, being a bedside nurse, and my teaching. I am passionate about the role of the nurse as a patient advocate and problem solver.

Brag to us about one thing (or 2, or 5, or 10) you’ve done in your career.

In 2015 I found 150 volunteer community living, well, “Older Adults,” to volunteer to be paired up with one of 150 senior nursing students for four home visits. I created the program and watched it become a successful part of an existing course. Hopefully I can watch the program transition to the next stage of change at the School of Nursing as we transition to a concept-based curriculum.

What does being a nurse mean to you?

Being a nurse to me means spending time trying to figure out the patient’s story and unique needs. It means that I provide a service that makes the patient happy with their experience as a patient and that if I have them again someday they remember me… even though I am “just a float!” A nurse represents the patient by being their advocate and provides a voice to the team when needed. Being a nurse means listening to the patient and the team and solving problems that might arise.