BayCare Celebrates Nurses During Nurses Week

For Jennifer Plomatos, being a nurse is an honor and privilege. Her biggest passion is caring for patients and helping them live healthier lives. 

“I love when I meet a new patient and spend time in their homes educating them about medications and health concerns,” said Plomatos, who is a nurse at BayCare HomeCare. “It’s a rewarding experience every time I can help a patient through their journey to wellness.”

As a homecare nurse, Plomatos helps care for patients recovering from COVID-19, congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after they’re discharged from the hospital or rehabilitation. She helps provide education, medication management and wound care in-person or virtually through telemonitoring. 

“Being a nurse allows me to not only care for patients but also connect with them on a human level,” said Plomatos. “That’s important now more than ever as we continue to help heal our community during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Like Plomatos, thousands of nurses across the system continue to work tirelessly to help care for patients in homes, hospitals, drive-thru testing sites, vaccination clinics, urgent cares, outpatient facilities and throughout the community. During the pandemic, nurses have played a critical role in BayCare’s response to the pandemic to help mitigate the spread of the virus.  

“We are grateful to our extraordinary nurses for putting themselves at the frontlines during these challenging times to deliver quality, compassionate care with the highest standards,” said Lisa Johnson, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, senior vice president and system chief nursing officer at BayCare. "They’re our everyday heroes and Nurses Week gives us an opportunity to recognize their ongoing contributions to improving the lives of our patients and the community.”

When times get tough, nurses do not give up, said Plomatos. “We have to strap on the backpack, put on our scrubs and head toward the fire. This is who we are,” she said.  

As the pandemic continues to affect people around the world, nurses remain an integral part of health care as they always do every single day.  

“Nurses are the backbone of health care,” said Plomatos. “Often times, especially during a public health crisis, we are the ones closest to the patient providing emotional, spiritual and physical support for them when no one else can. This has been evident in hospitals across the world as COVID-19 continues to affect many people.”