A culture worth coming back to: Lauren's Story

Fresh out of nursing school in the Midwest, Lauren was ready to take the first step in her new career – and she had her sights set on Duke Health. Although she was still states away, our reputation for excellence inspired her to apply. Not long after, she was selected to interview and eventually accepted a role with us here in North Carolina.

Starting in 2016, she worked as a new graduate nurse in the surgical trauma intensive care unit. She felt fully immersed in the community thanks to all of the resources available here – like tuition reimbursement. Lauren even went to new grad seminars each month, which were informative as she started to plan next steps.

Just two years later, Lauren had advanced to become a clinical nurse II. Before she could continue to climb the nursing career ladder here, she decided to take a new path in her journey. She left us in 2018 to go to graduate school full time back in the Midwest. After completing her course requirements, she became a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) – and eager to return to the community here she had left behind.

When she returned to Duke Health, Lauren went through a thorough onboarding process. It lasted 12 weeks and included rotations through all of the different surgical services we offer. Thanks to this in-depth orientation to her new role, Lauren felt supported throughout her transition and empowered to take the next step in her career.

As a lifelong learner, Lauren has been grateful for these early trainings as well as the other opportunities to continue growing professionally here. She knows she can always ask questions and gain new perspectives from fellow team members – and they’ll be eager to help in any way they can.

Each day, she sees our commitment to innovation coming alive thanks to the communication and camaraderie at Duke Health. Lauren continues to ask herself how she can improve processes to better support patients. Since this passion and commitment are shared with fellow team members, it’s easy to connect and build one another up along the way.

After growing with us over the past several years, Lauren is prouder than ever to be part of Duke Health. With us, Lauren knows that she’ll always have a supportive team to surround her and lift her up as she continues advancing.