Cindy, RN, Hospice Nurse

Work

Cindy, R.N., is a hospice nurse. She joined Memorial in 1982 as an ER nurse, where she spent 15 years. In 1997 she was given an opportunity to transfer to Hospice services.

"I love being a hospice nurse. It’s my calling," Cindy says. "I wanted to be a nurse since I was a child, and I’ve been one since I was 19."

Cindy feels honored to care for her patients and get to know their families at such an important time in their lives. "To help fulfill some of their wishes, to know they died the way they hoped to—comfortable and pain-free—that’s what’s important to me," she says.

"Pain affects patients’ daily lives; it can make it difficult to sleep, to maintain good relationships and to function. Many people live with tremendous amounts of pain. I can make sure hospice patients don’t die that way."

Cindy says that one of her greatest lessons in life came from a patient. "A patient taught me that through hospice care, God gives us the time necessary to prepare for what’s to come – to repair relationships and accomplish what we need to," she says. "Some people are initially afraid of hospice. They think when I arrive it means it’s time for them to die. I explain that I’m there to affect the quality of their life, not the quantity."

Home life

Outside of work, Cindy loves spending time with her husband Ken and their four kids, all in their 20s. "Our lives have been wrapped up in weddings for a few years now. Two got married last year and one of my daughters is getting married in May," she said with a smile. Ken and Cindy also have two dogs and two cats.

Ken and she are active in their church and love attending basketball games at Eisenhower High School, YVCC and the Yakama Sun Kings. "We also love cheering on the Huskies – we have an ongoing competition with the Cougs," laughs Cindy. Her favorite activity "in the whole wide world" is to water ski. As a family they enjoy camping, travel and waterskiing, although Cindy ranks waterskiing clearly at the top of her list.

What she loves about working for Memorial

Cindy credits Memorial’s Into the Blue, a personal and professional development program, for her new kitchen. "I’m a goal setter, but Into the Blue reinforced things I’ve always done. We sat down as a family, set a goal, envisioned it and now we have it," she says.

She also really appreciates that to a certain degree Memorial works her schedule around the things that are truly important to her. "I’ve been a nurse at girls’ camp for the past 25 years, and Memorial worked with me so that I could."

Back to top