Carisa Hayes, LPN
Internal Medicine at Rapid City Medical Center
Carisa hadn’t always seen herself as a nurse. Starting school, she was learning the ins and outs of law as a paralegal, later deciding that career path didn’t fit. It wasn’t until her second son was born at 28 weeks and spent three months in the NICU that Carisa stepped into the medical world.
In May 2014 she graduated from nursing school and two weeks later was hired by Rapid City Medical Center as an LPN. By December 2014, Carisa joined the Internal Medicine team in Dr. Traub’s office.
“Carisa makes a difference in the lives of her patient’s every day,” said Dr. Douglas Traub. “She has a wonderful sixth sense in helping them with their needs and turns a potentially uncomfortable, long morning into a great day.”
Carisa’s job in Internal Medicine is extremely busy caring for many adults with chronic medical problems – checking vital signs, helping with medication authorizations and giving immunizations. But, no matter how busy her schedule is, Carisa finds the time to treat each patient with the caring heart they deserve. “Carisa is always reliably there to help,” said Dr. Traub. “She doesn’t just tell patients where to go, but she shows them with a friendly smile and an arm for the patient to lean on as they walk to the lab for testing.”
Carisa is remarkable when caring for her patients, but to her – she’s just doing her job.
“I do my best to accomplish [exceptional work] on a daily basis,” said Carisa, “both with my patients and the team I work with.”
Proud sponsors of the 2016 Nurses of Excellence Award
Written by Jenna Carda
Photo by Legacy