This is a tribute to the tremendous loyalty of our employees to our culture and all the great things we do here. And it says a lot about the culture at Houston Methodist when they encourage their loved ones to come work here.” The following is just a small sampling of different families who have chosen to work together under the Houston Methodist umbrella as nurses, PCAs, techs and more.
TOBIN FAMILY Karen Tobin has been a nurse for 36 years, the last 15 of which she’s spent at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. Today she’s the operating room manager, and she’s witnessed the hospital’s growth firsthand. She also has watched the staff at HMSL grow to the point that it now includes her two daughters, Sara and Laura Tobin.
“I wanted my daughters to choose a profession that was best for them,” Karen says. “My husband and I sat down with each of them and went through what they liked and disliked to narrow down career choices. Both came to the decision themselves to become nurses.” Sara graduated from nursing school almost a year ago and started working as an RN in June. However, she joined the Houston Methodist family almost four years ago as a patient care assistant/unit secretary at HMSL. “Working there gave me a beneficial experience while I was in nursing school, and it helped me start out my nursing career,” Sara says. After graduating, Sara was hired as a graduate nurse in the ICU at HMSL. She’s also currently a member of the UHC Graduate Nurse Residency Program for Houston Methodist. “It’s a yearlong program that helps transition new graduate nurses into becoming great nurses,” she adds. Sara is not the only one following in her mother’s footsteps. Her sister, Laura, works as a patient care assistant at HMSL during summer and winter breaks. The rest of the year she’s a full-time student at Stephen F. Austin State University, where she is taking prerequisite courses to apply for nursing school.
Sara and Laura are actually the fourth generation of nurses (and nurses-to-be) in the family as not only is their mother a nurse, but their grandmother and greatgrandmother also were nurses. It’s easy to see why the Tobins have gravitated toward nursing as each enjoys the work they do tremendously. “I enjoy helping others, whether it be patients, their family, staff or physicians,” Karen says. “I enjoy talking to patients and comforting them during what can be very stressful times. I also love the technical side of nursing. Nursing is an evolving profession; there are always new treatments, equipment, and techniques.” Both Sara and Laura echo their mother’s sentiments. “One of my favorite things about my job is all my amazing coworkers. In the ICU, we really work as a team. I am so blessed to work with such supportive and intelligent coworkers,” Sara says. “Also one of the reasons I love being a nurse is because it has given me an opportunity to make a difference in my patients’ and their family members’ lives.” “I love working with my coworkers. I know that I can rely on my fellow PCAs to help me out to when I get overwhelmed, and the nurses are more than willing to answer any medical questions that I may have as I apply my studies to the real-life applications,” Laura says. “With my job I enjoy the interactions with the patients. I love helping them, but my favorite part of my job is to listen to how my patient’s day is going.” Even though the three Tobin women all work at HMSL, their paths don’t cross very often as they work in different departments and different shifts. Still, they say it’s nice to work with family.
“The best part of working at the same place though, is knowing that my sister and mother understand what I do and I am able to talk to them about struggles I may have,” Laura says. “Knowing my mom works for the same hospital that I do is cool, but I don’t work at here because my mom and my little sister work here. I work at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital because it is a great hospital,” Sara says.
Pictured left: Karen Tobin and daughter Sara enjoy a cup of coffee during a break at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital.
LEADERS IN NURSING 11