Barbara Dixon Resume

Barbara Dixon
521 Holly Dr. Franklinville, NJ 08322
Home (609)705-2828
Nursebarbie@gmail.com

OBJECTIVE: 

Clinician educated in nursing informatics with eleven years of experience in diverse clinical settings.  I am in search new opportunities utilizing technological skill to manage and communicate information, data, wisdom, and knowledge for the betterment of a health care facility.

EDUCATION:

Atlantic Cape Community College, 5100 Black Horse Pike, Mays Landing, NJ 08330

January 2003-May 2006 - Associate of Science in Nursing Degree

Thomas Edison State University, 101 W. State St. Trenton, NJ 08608

September 2008- December 2014 - Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree

January 2015 – March 2018 - Master of Science in Nursing, Nursing Informatics

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Eye Associates & the Surgicenter of Vineland

Address: 251 Lincoln Ave. Vineland, 08361

Employment Dates: July 5, 2017- current

Responsibilities:  I work as a Registered Nurse for ore-op and post-op care for patients.  Responsibilities include completing intake information, preparing operative eye and assessing patients understanding and readiness for surgery. Completion of pre-op orders such as medications and IV insertion.

Professional Pain Management PACU

Address: 2007 N Black Horse Pike, Williamstown, NJ 08094

Employment Dates: November 17, 2015 – current

Responsibilities: I provide care for patients recovering from anesthesia, whether it's general anesthesia, regional anesthesia, or local anesthesia.  I monitor the patient until conscious and has stable vital signs, manage postoperative pain and care for a patient with postoperative nausea and vomiting. I also help discharge the patient to home.

Hammonton Center for Health and Rehabilitation Nursing Supervisor

Address: 43 N White Horse Pike, Hammonton, NJ 08322

Employment Dates: August 13, 2015 – current

Responsibilities: I promote and restore patients' health by developing day-to-day management and long-term planning of the patient care area; direct and develop staff; collaborate with physicians and multidisciplinary professional staffs; provide physical and psychological support for patients, friends, and families.

AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center

Address: 65 W Jimmie Leeds Rd. Pomona, NJ 08240:

Employment dates:

April 2013- April 2014- RN Emergency Room, Mainland division

Responsibilities - Delivered emergency care to patients in a busy ER that sees over 250 patients every day. Used Medhost nursing charting.

June 2009- March 2013 - RN PCCU, Mainland Division

Responsibilities - Delivered care to pre- and post-cardiac cath patients, MI patients, and chest pain patients. Provided nursing care for a patient requiring telemetry observation, continuous EKG monitoring, pulse oximetry, hemodynamic monitoring with arterial lines and CVP monitoring.

Proficiently care for central lines, and provided cardiac education to patients and families. Utilized Cerner Powercharting.      

January 2007- June 2009 - RN - 3 Central, Mainland Division

Responsibilities - Delivered care for medical/surgical patients. Proficiently provided diabetic education, wound care, and care for infectious disease. Utilized Cerner Powercharting.

June 2006-January 2007 - RN - 5 South, City Division

Responsibilities - Delivered care for telemetry patients as a new grad nurse.

May 2005-June 2006 - Nurse Extern - Recovery Room

Responsibilities – Working under the supervision of a nurse preceptor, completed assessment, intervention, documentation, and evaluation of post-op patients.

PERSONAL QUALITIES/INFORMATION:

Personal Statement: I am known as a dedicated, patient-focused, Registered Nurse with that is completely devoted and will give one-hundred percent to everything I do. Additionally, my move into Clinical Informatics has been a natural transition, facilitated by my diverse clinical experience working with Cerner, Medhost, Epic, Point Click Care, Intergy, and Meditouch.  I am a skilled communicator, persuasive, creative, and adaptable.  I am able to listen and identify issues or problems areas and form innovative solutions.

Hobbies: – I enjoy long distant running, piano, gardening, reading, and traveling

References:

Bethanne Miller – AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Charge RN, Preceptor of 4 Harmony

(609)442-1070

MaryAnn Michelphelder - AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Charge RN, Preceptor of 4 Harmony

(609)214-7512

My Spirit of Nursing Story

         I always knew I was going to be nurse.  I am intrigued by the human anatomy and its intricacy, all the way down to the complex DNA.  Following in my mother’s path, I pursued a degree in nursing immediately out of high school.  Even while in high-school I began taking the prerequisites for the nursing program as night or summer courses at the local community college.  Although the summer of 2005 offered me more than any nursing program ever could have on what is to be a nurse.  I had already completed my first year of Nursing School and had just one more to go.  Despite the challenges it presented, some concepts can only be learned by wearing the gown of a patient.  

          June 22^nd was a busy day that I spent with my younger sister driving around completing my list of errands. I wanted to get to the gym before dinner time, so I said goodnight and dropped her off.  I stopped back at my apartment to briefly grab my gym bag and off I went, back in the car. I didn’t make it to the gym that evening.  While making a left turn through an intersection I was hit by a driver as he ran a red light.  My passenger side door was smashed into the center console so that my head was banging against both driver’s and passenger’s side windows.  With the banging of my head and the rotation from the impact I suffered from what Doctors’ called a contra-coupe, diffuse axonal injury with subdural, subarachnoid hematomas and an intraventricular hemorrhage. 

         Once help arrived I was intubated at the scene but from my combativeness, extubated myself.  Due to weakness I was unable to protect my airway and was reintubated. I was flown by helicopter and admitted to AtlantiCare, Atlantic City hospital.  There, I spent two weeks in ICU, sedated on a propofol drip and ventilator-dependent.  More often than not, I was on four-point restraints because of my agitation.  I would flail my arms and legs banging them on the bed rails.

         On July 5^th, I was transferred to trauma step down.  By this time I had a tracheostomy serving as my airway and received my nutrition through a Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG) tube.  Family would stay at my bedside around the clock and prayed over me.  I am told that I would briefly open my eyes and inconsistently follow commands.  Even in the sleep of a coma, I continued the terrible habit of cracking my knuckles. 

         On July 12^th, I was transferred from the hospital over to Betty Bacharach to begin my rehabilitation.  My first day at Bacharach is the first time I had been sat up in a chair and showed signs of awareness.  This is the first day I can remember of the whole summer.  I couldn’t support the weight of my head and had a head rest applied to the wheelchair.  My mom who had not seen me yet that day, walked in freezing in the doorway of my room. 

         “Hi Mommy.”  I struggled to use the vocal that were being paralyzed by my trach. tube. Those were the first words I had spoken since June 22^nd.  She ran to me and squeezed me covering my face with her kisses.  “Why are you crying Mommy?” I asked.  I didn’t understand what was happening.  I couldn’t understand.  I would ask repeatedly about what was happening.  Or I would ask why I wasn’t the same, and would understand for that moment but have to ask again only minutes later.

         That summer was filled with the tears I cried every time I looked in the mirror and saw a tracheostomy in my neck.  Tears of the hunger pains I felt that went unalleviated by tube feedings.  “Homesick” is how I would describe feeling the entire summer.  Weeks were spent in physical therapy, speech and occupational therapy.  I had to learn to walk again.  My fine motor skills were also impaired.  To control the movement of a pencil was difficult.  Even to this day running feels awkward. This is hard to accept since prior to the accident I was running daily. 

         By August 1^st, when I eventually proved to my therapists and doctors I was strong enough to return home independently I was discharged.  It was also recommended to take off from the approaching school year to recover and recuperate.  I, on the other hand, had a different agenda. I wanted to be normal again so despite everything, I jumped right back into school.  It didn’t take long for me to feel settled and I was soon replacing my Nursing 101 books for Nursing 200.  I knew and accepted the challenge, but no one could have prepared me for the hours I would have to dedicate to studying.  I would have to read and re-read chapters for endless hours.  Sometimes I would close a book for the night to pick it up in the morning looking at the same pages as if I had never read them before.  There wasn’t a moment that I didn’t have a book in my hands for that entire semester as well as the following one.  My grades had dropped but I was happy with any grade that was passing.  Teachers were happy to accommodate my needs when I asked to test alone because I was too distracted in a room with one hundred other students. They saw the effort I put into all my studies and the desire I put into all of my clinical time.  Not one other student wore the Nursing Cap and Gown or recited the Nightingale Pledge as proudly as I did at Pinning and graduation.  I had survived! 

My experience in the summer of 2005 made what would have been just my occupation into my passion.  My mom gave me the strength to continue my education and overcome every challenge to make a difference in the lives of my patients.