Giving back to a ‘can do’ caregiver

Fiona Goodwin has seen just about everything in her 22 years of nursing, but nothing prepared her for the surprise of winning Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian’s Nurse of the Year Award Thursday.

Goodwin, who is the care nurse in the hospital’s sub-intensive care unit, was chosen by her peers for exhibiting “confidence and expertise in expert care,” her willingness to “always assist other staff,” her “can-do, positive attitude” and her “patience and emotional intelligence,” to quote some of her nomination forms.

Hoag has celebrated “Nurse’s Day” in conjunction with the national Nurse Week for about 25 years, organizers said, but this was the first time Goodwin had won the award.

The Costa Mesa resident was accompanied by her husband, John, and her five children.

The Pilot met with Goodwin shortly after she received the award at the Hoag Conference Center in Newport Beach.  

Q: Congratulations! How does it feel?

A: Thank you — it feels great. I feel like there are a lot of great nurses I work with, and it’s just amazing I was selected to be the nurse of the year when I work with so many outstanding nurses.

Q: Why do you think your colleagues chose you for such an acknowledgment?

A: I really don’t know. I’m surprised anybody would think enough of me to do that. It’s a tough job, but I feel like I work with a bunch of great people and was surprised. I’m happy to be recognized; there is a great group of people behind me.

Q: And I hear you have some other nurses in the family, as well.

A: My mother was a nurse in England during World War II, and she emigrated here and did some nursing, but she hasn’t worked for quite a few years.

Q: What do you like best about nursing?

A: I like that every day is different, and that every day you can make a difference in somebody’s life. There’s so much opportunity to help people, advance and do different things with your career — its ever-changing, I think.

Q: Have there been any stand-out days in your career that you’ll reflect on, now that you’re Nurse of the Year?

A: We’ve had some patients with neurological disorders who couldn’t walk come back — on their feet — to visit us. That makes you feel good, but more than anything I felt very proud of the people I worked with because they were the ones who cared for them hands-on; it was their hard work and compassion that helped these people recover.

Q: Has the national nurse shortage made your job harder?

A: This hospital has done a very good job at recruiting and making sure we have enough nurses; in fact, we have very few openings right now.

I don’t think it’s been a problem.

Q: Now, the big question — when are you going to Disneyland?

A:(Laughs) I think my boys would really like it if we went to Disneyland, absolutely.

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at chris.caesar@latimes.com.