Life Changing Is … Being a Strong Role Model

Pam M., RN – Emergency Department Nurse

“I just wanted to be that lady that you could always go to to find out how to take care of people.”

Pam grew up on a farm with four brothers, and that’s how she found her nursing role model.

“Somebody was always getting hurt or sick, and our neighbor was a nurse,” Pam says. “My mother always went to her for advice, and I just wanted to be that lady that you could always go to to find out how to take care of people. I was just so inspired by her that she always knew what to do to make us better.”

Years later, Pam is that person for many people – for patients, co-workers, and family members.

Pam has worked in the Emergency Department at UPMC Muncy for nearly 30 years. She triages and takes care of patients who come into the ED with serious, life-threatening injuries or illnesses.

Having been at Muncy for so long, Pam has seen many advances in medicine over the years.

“The things that we do at the bedside now is so much more than what was even available way back when,” she says. “Even in doing an EKG, you used to have to move something around on the chest for every different 12 lead. Now, you hook them up and in 10 seconds, you’re done.”

One thing that hasn’t changed is Pam’s passion for the job and her love of her co-workers. She considers them a second family.

“I have no desire to go anywhere else to work,” she says. “I enjoy my coworkers. I like the environment.”

Although working in the ED can be difficult, Pam and her co-workers work hard to provide the best care possible. And when she hears of a patient who visited the ED and recovered, it makes her happy.

“I have gotten quite a few letters written to me from patients thanking me for the care,” she says. “And they've written to my bosses and thanked me for the care that they got.

“Hearing about patients’ recovery is so inspiring.”

At UPMC, Life Changing Medicine means being a key part of our patients’ recovery.

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