Simi Gill. Biographical Sketch

Transcription

1 Simi Gill Biographical Sketch Simi Gill, RN, BSN, CCRN, completed her Associates Degree in Nursing at Shoreline College, where she founded the Volunteer and Fundraising Committee for Community Aid and graduated as Class President and Valedictorian. She graduated with her BSN from the University of Washington with a 4.0 GPA, and was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society and the Golden Key International Honor Society. She worked in the Medical-Cardiac ICU at the Level-1 Trauma hospital, Harborview Medical Center, where she was involved in the Best Practice Committee, Code-Blue Responder team, and Roto-prone Super User team. She then came to New York City as a travel nurse to work at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, followed by New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center as a nurse in the Open Heart Cardiothoracic ICU. She is a member of the Washington State Nurses Association, New York State Nurses Association, American Association of Critical-care Nurses, New York State Association of Nurse Anesthetists and the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. She is currently an enthusiastic junior in the Columbia University School of Nursing Graduate Program in Nurse Anesthesia.

2 I was born with a congenital cardiac condition known as Epstein s Anomaly. My heart defect was the driving force behind my mother and aunts going into Nursing. For my entire life, I was protected by amazing nurses, and I knew I would follow in their footsteps one day. I entered nursing school, became involved with the Washington State Nurses Association and went to the state capitol to help advocate for nurses. I also excelled academically, tutoring nursing and pre-nursing students, and I graduated as President and valedictorian of my class. Eager to step into the workforce, I worked the night shift in the ICU in a Level 1-Trauma hospital as a nursing aide during nursing school, and when I graduated I received one of the few highly coveted ICU new graduate consortium spots. In the ICU, I signed up for every class I could. I learned as much as possible, in order to be the best nurse for my critically ill patients and a knowledgeable resource for my colleagues. I joined committees such as the Best Practice Committee, the Roto-prone Super-user Team, and the Code-Blue Responder Team. While I was building my career as an ICU nurse, my heart anomaly progressively worsened. I started getting short of breath and began having syncopal episodes. After struggling to keep up for 23 years, my heart finally began to fail, and my only hope for survival was open heart surgery. My condition is rare, and I was turned down by many surgeons before a surgeon at Stanford University Medical Center, in California, agreed to try to fix my broken heart. The morning of my first open heart surgery I bathed myself in chlorhexidine and was taken to preoperative room, surrounded by mother, sister, and aunts. These amazing nurses who had protected me my whole life looked on helplessly as the surgeon explained the severe risks of the surgery. With them by my side, I felt like I could conquer anything, but as I was taken into the Operating Theater, I felt more alone than I could ever imagine. As I started to entertain the notion that this may be the end, I silently pleaded Please let me get through this. I still have so much left to do; so much life to live. Just then the Nurse Anesthetist I had spoken with pre-operatively was at my side. She told me I was not alone, that she would be with me the whole time. I never knew the profound impact a stranger could have on your life until that moment. I was no longer alone. I now had another nurse at my side who would protect me throughout the tribulation of open heart surgery. I knew then that my calling was to be a Nurse Anesthetist. I travel nursed to New York City, worked in the CTICU at New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center, applied to Columbia University for Nurse Anesthesia, and have been a SRNA here since What makes me different from many other SRNAs is that I have been on the other side of patient care. My life is a gift that is possible because of Medicine and Nursing. I have dedicated this gift of life to Nursing, to Nurse Anesthesia, so I can be that advocate for patients when they feel more lonely and scared than ever before; when their illness warrants complete surrender of their body to the anesthetist, as mine had. As a SRNA I have continued to take the initiative to get involved. I attended the AANA Midyear, and talked to my congressman about issues in Nurse Anesthesia. I am the class representative for the New York State Association of Nurse Anesthetists. I am thrilled to campaign for a position that would allow me the opportunity to use my leadership skills and experience representing SRNAs on the AANA Education Committee.

3 SIMRAN (SIMI) GILL LICENSURE New York State Registered Nurse: License # Washington State Registered Nurse: License # RN EDUCATION Columbia University, New York, NY: -Currently enrolled in the Masters of Science in Nurse Anesthesia Program -Anticipated Graduation: August Invited to Columbia University chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society University of Washington, Seattle, WA: Received Bachelors of Science in Nursing degree: June GPA, Dean s List, Honor Roll Inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society Inducted into Golden Key International Honor Society Shoreline Community College, Shoreline, WA: Received Associates Degree in Nursing degree: March 2008 Class President/Valedictorian SCCollege s Humanitarian of the Year Award winner Founder and President of the Volunteer and Fundraising Committee for Community Aid

4 PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS American Association of Nurse Anesthetists: member since 2012 New York State Association of Nurse Anesthetists: member since 2012 American Association of Critical Care Nurses: member since 2010 New York State Nurses Association: member Washington State Nurses Association: member PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES/EXPERIENCE New York Presbyterian Medical Center Columbia University Hospital, New York, NY: April 2011 to Current Registered Nurse in the Cardiothoracic ICU, floated to Surgical ICU, Medical ICU, and Neuro ICU American Mobile Nursing: November 2010 February 2011 Travel Registered Nurse at Memorial Sloan-Kettering SDH PACU Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA: March 2008 to October 2010 Registered Nurse in the Cardiac-Medical ICU, often floating to Burn ICU, Neuro ICU, and Trauma-Surgical ICU Member of the Code-Blue team (responding to/initiating/and ensuring adequate standards of Code Blue situations in the entire hospital Member of the Committee for Best Practice in the ICU Member of H1N1 and RotoProne Superuser team PERSONAL EXPERIENCE Had two Open Heart Surgeries, ten days apart, at Stanford Medical Center, CA: January 2010 Hope Heart Institute s 13 th Annual Gala: Event s sole Honorary Guest Speaker: to raise awareness and funding for Cardiac research and education. Seattle Heart Walk: honored as Survivor and Hero

5 COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES Mentoring High School students at Bread & Roses H.S., New York, NY Mentored at-risk youth in the Big Brother Big Sister Program, Seattle, WA Volunteered at the Pioneer Square Homeless Clinic, Seattle, WA Created, organized, and headed Fundraiser for the Homeless Shelter in Seattle, WA, affiliated with Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA Volunteer Mentor at Big Brother Big Sister Organization for youth, Seattle, WA Volunteered in Health Check Awareness for Punjabi Temple, Renton, WA