There are some days when Rosa Dela Cruz feels like she needs rollerskates on her feet.
As a nurse in the Specialty Department of the Kaiser Permanente Hilo Clinic, Dela Cruz wears many hats, helping patients in a wide range of areas, including cardiology, oncology, ophthalmology, allergy, neurology, pain management and more.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s something different every day. You’re definitely not doing the same thing over and over. … But, for instance, today (Wednesday), I’m covering patients in chemotherapy, as well as working in cardiology, so I’m always trying to be everywhere at once.”
It’s a seemingly impossible task that Dela Cruz manages efficiently, all while putting her patients first, said administrator Cassie Lester.
“Rosie is wonderful,” she said. “(To be a good nurse), you have to be flexible, approachable, juggle a million things at a time, have good communication skills, treat your patients with kindness, and make them feel like they’re the No. 1 thing on your plate.”
On Wednesday morning, as National Nurses Week got off to a start, Dela Cruz was preparing to perform an EKG exam on longtime patient Margi Tabura. The 77-year-old, who has survived five strokes since 2003 without losing her sharp wit, was there to consult with her cardiologist, Dr. Amit Shah, who visits once a week from Oahu.
“She’s great,” Tabura said of her nurse, displaying a slight slur. “Really, that’s all they (the clinic) need. Just her. … She’s helped me with my appointments, with medication, with advice. The only thing she hasn’t helped me with is my speech. But I’m working on getting her to do that next.”
Shah said that Dela Cruz’s rapport with patients is what makes her such an important part of the Kaiser team.
“Honestly, she’s probably the best nurse I’ve ever worked with,” he said. “Even though she’s being pulled all over the place, she’s so happy and positive. She’s exceptional. … You know, that’s really a part of medicine that can’t be quantified, but she has it.”
Born in Pauuilo, Dela Cruz grew up on the Big Island, attended Hilo High School, and studied nursing at Hawaii Community College. She and her husband, Ed, are raising two boys, 12-year-old Kyler and 16-year-old Koby. Recently, Kyler told her that he’d like to grow up to be a nurse like his mom.
“I told him, ‘I don’t know. … Are you sure?’ Before that he told me he wanted to be an artist,” she said with a laugh. “I think he’s just saying that because I’m a nurse. But we’ll see.”
Despite all the hard work, Dela Cruz says she loves nursing, and wouldn’t have things any other way.
“Seeing (the patients) get better is what nursing is all about,” she said. “And it’s heartbreaking if they don’t. … This is a small clinic, and we see the same patients all the time. So you keep up with them.”
Dela Cruz said she doesn’t have any kind of secret formula she follows to do her job well.
“You’ve just gotta do it for the right reasons,” she said.
She added that the clinic’s pain-management physician, Dr. James McCoy, provided her with a helpful bit of advice that she uses on a daily basis.
“He said that every minute you spend being angry and upset is a minute lost,” she said. “The job can be stressful, but you just have to let it all out.”
National Nurses Week runs through May 12, the birthdate of Florence Nightingale (May 12, 1820-Aug. 13, 1910), the founder of modern nursing.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.