"I come from a very nurturing and supportive environment. [Nursing] came about naturally. I take care of people. It's how I was raised," reflected Elsa Gonzalez, RN, ICU clinical manager at Memorial Hospital Pembroke.

Gonzalez watched her parents lovingly raise her younger brother - now in his early 40s - who has Down syndrome. Instead of sending him to an institution, as was common practice at the time, her parents "bucked the trend" and raised him at home.

She and her mother share guardianship for her brother, and Gonzalez regularly collaborates with his physicians and other caregivers.

In addition to her work in the ICU, Gonzalez serves on the hospital's rapid response, stroke and code blue teams. She highly values her co-workers and the supportive atmosphere they create.

"I work on a unit with wonderful and caring people. We all have strengths and weaknesses, [and] we complement one another really well," she said.

Front-Row View

During high school, Gonzalez had a front-row view of the nursing profession when she worked as a unit secretary. With the encouragement of her co-workers, she put herself through nursing school.

"I worked on the same unit for a year after I graduated. Everyone was so wonderful and supportive. I realized, though, with everyone taking care of me, it would be hard to stand on my own," she said.

So, Gonzalez took a critical care course and found a position on a medical ICU.

"I like to be involved in every aspect of patient care," she said. "You have control and continuity you can't achieve when you're carrying a larger patient load on the floor."

Precious Life

Working in the ICU also has given Gonzalez an appreciation for life.

As a new ICU nurse, she was caring for a woman who had just given birth and developed a pulmonary embolus. Despite the staff's best efforts, the woman died.

"It was supposed to be a joyous occasion. The couple had waited a long time to have a child because they had trouble conceiving," Gonzalez reflected. "It opened my eyes to how important relationships are, how fragile life is."