National Nurses United

Profile_Jan 6/30/11 12:44 PM Page 12 Bunny Engeldorf, RN believes the nation's nurses must take charge of patient care on all levels, and has worked tirelessly to help build their power to do just that By Lucia Hwang A Life of Service B ernadine "bunny" engeldorf is what we call a nurse's nurse. She's always been one of those registered nurses who, in addition to her regular job, helps educate coworkers about the latest issue her union is battling, keeps tabs on any changes that might encroach upon the RN scope of practice, and gives input on workplace safety issues. So it's only natural that Engeldorf would rise to become a leader of the national nurses movement as a member of the executive council of National Nurses United, and one of the top nurses in her home state of Minnesota. "I'm not one of those people who has some great story about how I became a nurse," said Engeldorf, who currently works as a psychiatric nurse at United Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., where she's been employed for more than 20 years. "For me, it was always about doing service. If I was going to do anything, it would be something to give back to the community." This ethos of service runs in her family, said Engeldorf. A native Minnesotan, Engeldorf was the eldest of five children, and her father worked as a union carpenter as well as serving as a volunteer firefighter. Her mother was a nursing assistant. Before her job at United Hospital, where she would work for most of her career, she worked in long-term care in a rural community. "It was a great experience," remembered Engeldorf. But life took her back to the city, where she took a position in orthopedics and neurology, a specialty she was drawn to because she 12 N AT I O N A L N U R S E had the chance to get to know her patients better. "It was very interesting to me," said Engeldorf. "People were in the hospital longer, usually because of some orthopedic intervention, so I had the opportunity to develop relationships with people." As an ortho and neuro RN, Engeldorf was often willing to take assignments that other nurses found "difficult," perhaps because the patient was moody or not cooperative. Often, the reason for the patients' challenging dispositions was a mental health issue. Engeldorf eventually realized that she enjoyed working in mental health, so when the opportunity arose to work for a crisis intervention program at a different facility, she jumped at it. In her new job, Engeldorf provided emergency, face-to-face mental health consultations, evaluated patients, and would refer patients to needed services. She loved it but, unfortunately, she was laid off after just a few years when the company reorganized – even though she had seniority over other coworkers. "I thought, 'Never again will I take a nonunion job!'" said Engeldorf. She returned to United Health and worked again in orthopedics and neurology for eight years before she pursued an open position in the psychiatric unit. She's worked as a psych nurse for 12 years now for a busy four-unit ward, and also acts as assistant head nurse, doing education, orientation, and mentoring. As an RN working in mental health, Engeldorf is acutely aware of the effects that the depressed economy, budget cuts in public and mental health, cuts in community services, and the lack of a universal, single-payer healthcare system have on patients suffering from mental illness. Patients sometimes have to be sent out of state W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G JUNE 2011

• Cover