Membership Spotlight: Barbara Washington RN, CCRN
Posted almost 4 years ago
For our first Member Spotlight, we thought it would be special to spotlight one of the founding mothers of our AACN Inland Empire Chapter. We are so honored to spotlight none other than…
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BARBARA WASHINGTON, RN, CCRN
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Barbara Washington
Barbara Washington studied Nursing at St. Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing and graduated in 1971. She was inspired to become a nurse after her father tragically died in a fire. She remembers her father started running, fell, and hit his face on the sidewalk. His heart stopped and he passed away that night. She recalls CPR had not yet been created in the 1960s.
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Barbara has been practicing as a critical care nurse for 49 years and has been CCRN certified for over 40 years!!! Her journey with AACN began in 1977. She started by serving as a Membership chairperson for the San Antonio AACN Chapter. She also went on to become an Education-board member for the Alabama AACN chapter where she taught critical care courses for ICU nurses. Once the Inland Empire Chapter of AACN got established, she served as Membership Specialist, Treasurer, President-elect, and President. While in the Inland Empire Chapter she continued teaching critical care courses to ICU nurses.
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Barbara believes the AACN has helped her grow professionally and made her a better nurse. She has received several awards for her nursing work while in the Air Force and from local hospitals. She was also recognized as Nurse of the Year back in 2000. Barbara has always felt a desire to serve her community. She has participated in a medical missions to South Africa in 1996 and Nicaragua in 2018. For the last five years, Barbara has continued serving our Inland Empire community by feeding the homeless on Sundays. Barbara has also remained involved in her local union to ensure nurses and support staff have comparable wages and benefits.
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Barbara encourages nurses to not be afraid of speaking up when they see something that needs to be addressed. Some challenges Barbara sees current nurses face include:
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Nurses working two full-time jobs to make a decent living.
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Nurse working for greater than five or ten years at a medical facility without a retirement plan.
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Financial management for nurses: A course in nursing curriculum on how to save your money.
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Nursing Schools being too expensive to obtain bachelor’s degree
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Barbara’s advice to all nurses include:
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Be kind and caring towards the nurses who follow your shift. Little acts go a long way.
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Always be willing to go the extra mile.
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Get certified in whatever specialty you practice (e.g. CCRN, PCCN, CMC).
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Join your local AACN chapter.
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If you decide to resign, give two weeks’ notice. You might desire to return to that same job.
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Give back to your community.
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Do not become a nurse for the money, do it because you love to serve and help your fellowman.
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Our local chapter is so fortunate to be able to have Barbara as part of our chapter. Her advice is invaluable to all of us. Our chapter thanks Barbara Washington for her vision of what our chapter would become. We are what we are because of pioneers like her.
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