One of the hospital’s longest serving and most dedicated employees is officially planning to retire this week, with an impressive career behind her.  Not only is Vicky consistently described as a very knowledgeable and skillful, but also as compassionate and kind.

Vicky Kent has been an OR Nurse for many years, but that barely scrapes the surface of what she does at Nell J Redfield.  She started her health care journey as a Home Health nurse, which brought her into contact with the hospital.  Eventually, she was moved over to the OR and then trained up from there to become a “go-to” employee who is called upon to serve in a wide range of capacities at a high level.  

For one thing, along with Nancy Asay and Brenda Barney, Vicky Kent became chemo certified before most hospitals in the area had anyone trained in the field.  John Williams got to know a different side of Kent during that time, as he ended up going through chemo treatments at Nell J Redfield soon after taking over in the CEO position.  The fact that Kent had once upon a time been his babysitter provided the kind of comfort (and source for humor!) that you can only get in a town like Malad.  

“That is one of the things I do love about having Vicky here—she’s hometown all the way, with a great sense of humor,” Williams said.  “She knows how to talk to people here.”

Williams clarified that he meant that in two senses, which were echoed by others.  “Whether it’s through her ecclesiastical duties or the care she gives here, she is very, very, very compassionate.  But she isn’t going to take any crap either.  She’ll make sure you follow your plan to do the best.  She is able to ride that fine line.”

During especially intense treatments, a mix of both command and care is essential to obtaining the best patient outcomes, Williams noted.  “During that process of treatment, as critical as it is, to have a champion in your corner who can tell you what you need to do but also be on your side—she met both sides of that, the firmness and the compassion side of it.  And she would help you through that, whether she led you or pushed you.  She’s committed to your wellness.”

“I know there are people who roll their eyes when I talk about how good my treatment was here—they say, ‘of course it was, you’re the administrator.’  But with the opportunity I had to be in Brenda and Nancy and Vicky’s care—if anyone ever has to go through that, I would encourage them to do it here.  And I’m not saying that for any reason other than I know that I got one on one care in this building from those three.  And I wasn’t sitting in a room full of people with them bouncing back and forth.  And they knew stories, too.  Their positivity was important.  There was no question in their heads that I wasn’t  going to do well.  It was very uplifting.”

The training that Kent has had did not come easily.  Becoming a chemo nurse is demanding, and requires a high level of job competency and execution.  “The thing that’s so important to remember is that the test they all had to pass isn’t easy.  There are a number of places I know where they haven’t been able to get people past the test.”

Williams discussed the versatile and invaluable contributions Kent has made to the work of the hospital.  “She worked in the OR, but she had a skill set that went well beyond that.  Frequently, she’d be assigned to the ER when we got an emergent patient, and with no problem she’d just run the emergency room.  Same thing with taking care of people on the floor.  If the nurses were engaged in an emergency, she’d go and take care of people on the floor.”

In additional to her positions within the hospital, Kent has also served a number of church and community callings, including Stake Relief Society President and a Compassionate Service Leader.    

As she prepares to start off on a new adventure following retirement, she is bound to be a blessing to whomever she meets along the way!