YWCA Women of Excellence: Jana Tenbrink

What inspires you?

I am so passionate about critical care nursing and surrounding myself with the best possible team. That personally drives me every single day I step into work. By having an excellent team of nurses and patient care techs, I can empower them to provide the best possible care in the best possible way. Additionally, I have three little girls at home that I want to grow into strong, independent women. I want them to see their mom giving 1000% every day and understand the importance of serving others in their community.

What advice do you have for others?

I would say to remember you have a voice. There is nothing wrong with asking questions to gain more insight or provoke thought in others. That is how we work together to make sure every "t" is crossed and every "I" has its dot. In a work environment like nursing, we don't have room for error and we rely heavily on a team approach to patient care and advocating for patient needs.

What is the greatest lesson you have learned on your journey?

To be patient and listen to others. This is probably the biggest hurdle I have had to learn to overcome as a leader. I am a "get it done now" type of person and not everything moves that quickly. Some projects take time and multiple processes it must go through for approval.

What does your vision for our community look like?

I have many, but I will just name a few. I would really like to see continued advocacy for organ and tissue donation within our community as I have personally seen the positive effects the entire donation process can have for those involved. I serve as the key contact between Midwest Transplant Network and Stormont Vail Health. We work together to extend legacies, provide hope and give life to others. Together, we are dedicated to increasing awareness and education about the need for organ, tissue and eye donation.

If you are looking for more a general answer in regards to community vision, mine would be to see a more vested effort in each Topekan to improve the community. It is not just up to our formal leaders to "make Topeka great," it takes everyone being proud of the community and wanting to see it grow. I would like to see things like youth sports have more a foot print in our community and not the mentality that their child needs to travel and play in a larger city to experience "good competition." That is just one particular example where I would like to see a shift in our culture in Topeka and surrounding areas. But, I would have to say, I have seen some great changes within the community over the past few years and feel that excellent progress has been made.

What does "Equal - Powerful - Unstoppable" mean to you?

In my work environment, I would say that it means you are not "just a patient care tech", or "just a nurse." Everyone has the power to bring a concern or solution to the table to be discussed. Everyone has the power to equally improve a patient's and/or visitor's experience within our organization. Everyone has the ability enact change as we are all equally powerful and unstoppable, as long as you have that personal confidence and tenacity to do better.