Sandra Hess - Mercy Health Urbana

Sandra Hess started working at Mercy Health Urbana in a non-medical capacity when she was very young; but she notes, “I was very inspired by all the nurses I encountered over all the years. Just watching them and interacting with them made me want to become a nurse.” And so, in her 30s, she began nursing school. Since 2003, Sandra has served Mercy as a nurse in the emergency department. She credits her nurse co-workers with taking her under their wing. Now those colleagues prize Sandra for being “professional and joyful,” noting “she often helps team members remember why they do what they do, even in the worst of times, by always being compassionate and professional with everyone she encounters.” She’s considered a mother to all her co-workers, who describe her as “always smiling and having a contagious positive attitude.” They also say Sandy is never too busy to help her patients—whether it’s in their care, in helping them when they cannot afford medications, or in giving them advice about tending to their medical conditions at home. Patients, she observes, “don’t remember all the skills you have,” but “they do remember how kind you are.”