Sarah Moores
LPN, OR Team Member, Athlete, Traveller, Human
I’ve been working in our hospitals for about a decade, though my healthcare career didn’t begin in nursing. Coming out of school I had a bit of an interest in medicine, but I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. I ended up taking the Hospital Clerk Program at Camosun College which led me to a position in the OR Department at Royal Jubilee Hospital. It was there that my interest in healthcare spiked. I realized; oh I really like this. It felt good to be having a direct impact on the community. I don’t know how to explain it, but I’ve worked other jobs before where you just don’t get that type of satisfaction when you go home. You don’t feel as fulfilled as you do in a setting like this where you can actually see the impact that you have on people every single day.
After several years, between my newly ignited interest in healthcare and the encouragement of my co-workers, I made up my mind to pursue nursing, and went back to school to become a Licensed Practical Nurse or LPN. After graduating I quickly ended up back in the OR Department, this time as a perioperative nurse. In my first year, I rotated through all of the surgical specialties but found myself gravitating towards orthopedics. That’s where I’ve stayed ever since.
“I realized; oh I really like this. It felt good to be having a direct impact on the community.“
“I’d say we’re a big family in the OR. We have a big lounge where we all have our lunch together; you get to know everybody very quickly.”
As a perioperative nurse, I alternate between two roles: scrubbing, assisting the surgeon for a case; and circulating the room, helping to assist the rest of the team in the operating room. I feel like our team is a very well-oiled machine. On any given day we will replace six or sevens joints per room, and we sometimes have up to three rooms running for joint replacement. There are so many patients who need surgery, so we have tons of people working on our team, each with their own role to make sure we can get as many procedures through as possible.
I’d say we’re a big family in the OR. We have a big lounge where we all have our lunch together; you get to know everybody very quickly. Our Clinical Nurse Leader, Laurie, is kind of like our work mom. I’ve known her since I was a unit clerk, and she has supported me through my whole journey. She really creates a good environment for us to work well as a team, planning TGIF get togethers and bonding during off-time. We all really enjoy working together because we are actually friends outside of work as well.
In my free time I really enjoy travelling. My boyfriend Sam and I went to Italy last year, and as this piece comes out, we’ll be taking a trip to New York. Sam is very adventurous, and he has re-piqued my interest in getting out there and seeing the world. I also love exploring new sports and seeing what I’m capable of. Pre-pandemic, I was a competitive boxer, and more recently I’ve been enjoying running & CrossFit. I’ve always just been interested in maintaining a healthy, active, lifestyle; I think that was part of what drew me to orthopedics.
It’s been a difficult few years for many, especially in our hospitals, and it’s hard when all you ever hear about are the negative things—but I see positives throughout it all as well. So many of our patients come in for surgery, and they are so grateful. They thank the whole team before they get their sedation. That really keeps us going. And as much as people thank me for being a nurse, I just hope they know it really fills me up too. We’re grateful to be able to provide for people as much as they are grateful to have us do it.
We all go through a lot of the same things. We all have times, ourselves or for our loved ones, where the hospitals are required. Honouring all of our shared experiences—joy, sorrow, love, resilience—and approaching them with compassion and empathy is key to being human. We all go through struggles, but despite our challenges, we’re still holding things together, as a hospital team, and as a community.
“We all go through struggles, but despite our challenges, we’re still holding things together, as a hospital team, and as a community.”
They are humans first, who put other humans first.
More than 8,900 caregivers and staff work around the clock in our Victoria Hospitals
#HumansFirst is dedicated to sharing the stories from behind our hospitals’ frontlines. These stories remind us that those who provide care and keep the lights on in our hospitals also have lives outside of them. They have family and friends, they enjoy hobbies and interests, and they have all lived through their own personal triumphs and heartbreaks. Like all of us, they are human, and they have a story to tell.
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