Critical care float pool nurse finds the right fit at the bedside

Megan Hughes lugs a defibrillator around the 10th floor of Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center, a fanny pack slung around her back and a sea turtle pin on her name badge lanyard.

“I’m kind of like the sunshine person on our unit,” the critical care float pool nurse says. “I try to boost morale and do good work.”

Hughes is nearing her 10-year anniversary with Essentia Health, and she said floating between neurotrauma and the cardiovascular intensive care units keeps her job interesting and flexible.

Since joining Essentia, Hughes has served on several committees, including the Nursing Informatics Council.

Because education is a health-care constant, Hughes aims for accessible and interactive learning opportunities for herself and her nursing colleagues. Case in point: She was willing to serve as a co-star in an Essentia video series called Care Plan Reimagined. 

“We wanted to make it campy, funny, like ‘Saturday Night Live,’ ” she says.

Outside of her day job, Hughes is the Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) chapter president, she teaches Advanced Cardiac Life Support and she launched Doctors in the Wild, a local social gathering for regional nurses to spend time and learn in a casual environment with providers outside the hospital or clinic. 

Out of her diverse academic background in biochemistry, biology, chemistry and music, Hughes said she’s found the right fit.

“Being at the bedside, being with the patients, it’s a good role for me,” she said.

Working with Hughes has been a constant for RN Elsa Norlen since joining Essentia.

“Megan is the epitome of the Energizer Bunny, and her excitement for life is contagious!” Norlen says. “She has made each of our nurses and patients better by being cared for by her, precepted by her, working alongside her or by simply knowing her. 

“Megan is the most dedicated person to her family, community, patients and friends.” 

Hughes said the key to her nursing practice is “We’re humans taking care of humans.”

Some of the things that make her patients feel the best aren’t super medical; they’re simple, like brushing their teeth with a real toothbrush or washing their hair. 

“My favorite thing to hammer into new grads: We treat patients like humans should be treated. We meet their physical needs and their emotional needs,” Hughes explains.