Culture of support

Aastha Baral, clinical nurse III in the mother-baby unit at Duke Regional Hospital, has been part of Duke Health since August 2019. As part of the team, Aastha works to support new parents and their little ones by providing them with an environment of support.  

“I enjoy working with mother and baby and I am always excited to provide support and help new patients,” said Aastha. “We relentlessly work to make the transition in the first few days of parenthood exciting, smooth, and less stressful.” 

Although supporting new parents and their little ones is a crucial and expected part of Aastha’s nursing career in the unit, she also found a culture of support with her fellow team members and leaders. 

"I love the work culture, friendly staff, and awesome management. Even on stressful and busy days, we hold and support each other back professionally," said Aastha.

This culture of support extends into Aastha’s professional goals, too. Just a year and a half into her career at Duke Health, and with full support from leaders, she began to utilize Duke’s Nursing Career Ladder to progress from clinical nurse II to clinical nurse III.  

“They provided me all the resources and support in a very short time,” she said.  

Aastha is also pursuing a family nurse practitioner degree through Duke Health’s RN Tuition Assistance Program, which provides up to 90% of a benefits-eligible nurse’s tuition at the Duke University School of Nursing for select master’s and doctorate programs.

Aastha has also found the supportive culture extend beyond the workplace as she transitioned into motherhood herself. As she and her family welcomed baby Maeve into the world, Aastha was able to benefit from Duke’s six-week paid parental leave program. 

“I took 12 weeks of leave from work, including six of maternity leave,” she said. “This gave me a good chance to recover and spend quality time with my little one.” 

Along with Duke’s programs, Aastha was also supported by her team throughout the entire process. 

“I had great support from my manager and co-workers for a smooth transition to motherhood and coming back to work after maternity leave.” 

It’s this culture of support that helps all team members — including Aastha — bring out their best each day.