Nurse Spotlight: Chuck Chandlee

In honor of National Nurses Week, we will be highlighting a few of our nurses and CNAs.  Today’s spotlight is on Chuck Chandlee, a Registered Nurse in Magee’s Spinal Cord Injury Unit and president of the Nurses Advisory Council.

Chuck Chandlee, RN

Please tell me a little bit more about your background.

I started nursing school in 2005 at Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, and am currently finishing up my BSN at Immaculata University. After finishing nursing school I started working at Magee, and have been here for 5 years as of this upcoming July.

Why did you decide to become a nurse?

One of the most influential points in my life that made me become a nurse was when my dad was diagnosed with cancer. During his stages of fighting cancer, I was there with him the majority of the time helping him and taking care of his needs. After defeating cancer, a couple years later my dad had a MI and was ill for a long time. At this point in my life, I realized that this was something I wanted to do to make a difference in the lives of people in need.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The most rewarding part of my job is watching the amount of independence a patient gains. No matter how big or small the task is, it’s always a joy seeing a patient get excited about performing a task by themselves.

Tell us about an experience that solidified for you that you made the right career choice.

There have been plenty of patients that motivated and made my job the “right” choice. All of my patients make me come into work each and every day. I come to work for my patients because I know they need us nurses to help them live as much as a normal life as possible. One of the things that makes me love my job is to hear a patient say, “You are one of my favorite nurses.” It feels good knowing they feel comfortable and have a sense of security when I am here. As a patient, it takes a lot of effort to trust and depend on others. As a nurse, it is my responsibility to respect the amount of energy that can take. This is an opportunity to let my patients know and realize I am here for them and to help them depend less on us and to gain that independence.

What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of work?

Before I decided to become a nurse I went to school for graphic design. Since I was a child, I enjoyed drawing. While in school I focused on drawing with pencil and charcoal along with other mediums. When I have the time, I draw and sketch, but today I focus more on photography because it is less time-consuming and gives me a different aspect of creating art.

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