Saint Joseph Berea charge nurse Summer Price, RN, grows more sure of her career in health care with each passing year.
“I feel like kindness grows in my heart the longer I’ve been a nurse,” Summer said. “I feel like I’ve gained more and more understanding every year I’ve been a nurse as I’ve learned what people need and how best to help them.”
Treating every patient with kindness, dignity and humanity is her philosophy of care, Summer said. Summer’s philosophy and actions as a charge nurse earned her recognition as the overall Employee of the Year last year. She said she was humbled and surprised by the award.
“To be named the Employee of the Year at [Saint Joseph] Berea, and then for the whole ministry as humbling and such a shock,” Summer said. “My grandmother preached the golden rule to me as a child, and it’s something I’ve brought into nursing with me. We’re caring for our neighbors, our friends, people I see at Wal-Mart, and each person deserves to be treated like they are your family.”
Summer said the honor centered her, giving her the lift she needed as she and her family recently faced some personal challenges.
“I think God knows what you need when you need it,” Summer said. “This award is the bright spot I needed.”
Summer said her sense of pride swelled reading the nominations she received, strengthening her calling to serve the community. A Lee County native, Summer moved to Berea to study nursing at Berea College and adopted her new hometown.
She completed her clinical rotation at Saint Joseph Berea in 2001 and then joined the team as a newly graduated nurse. Her family relocated to South Carolina as her husband pursued graduate school, but her family returned to Berea in 2010.
“I started in Med-Surg as a new nurse, and I had a great experience thanks to my preceptor, our doctors and the team,” Summer said. “They shaped my nursing career. When we moved to South Carolina, I worked in the ICU in a level one trauma center, so it was a little scary coming from a small, rural hospital. I saw that success came down to just being a good nurse, and that’s what Saint Joseph Berea instilled in me.”
Summer said she’s proud to serve her community, to have the opportunity to help patients get back to being their best selves.
“It sets a higher standard for taking care of your friends and neighbors, seeing patients who have grown up in front of you,” Summer said.
Summer also stays busy with her husband and their two daughters. She enjoys camping trips and spending quality time with her family.
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Spirit of Health magazine's print edition is distributed quarterly and focuses on topics related to our CHI Saint Joseph Health purpose and values.
