Are You Looking For A Rewarding Career In Health Care?

April Woody, MSN, RN, always knew she wanted a career in the medical field. Not only does she have a passion for helping people, she knew that healthcare was something that was always going to be around, providing for a stable career.

And when looking for her first job in healthcare, she looked at Fisher-Titus.

Keaton Ruggles always knew Fisher-Titus was a place he wanted to work – his mom also works at Fisher-Titus and it is close to home.

In 2014 while working at a pizza place in his hometown of New London, Keaton began to think about his career.

“I decided to apply at Fisher-Titus because I was going to school to get my STNA license and knew I wanted to work there as a Registered Nurse when I was done with nursing school,” he said.

Keaton started as a State Tested Nursing Assistant (STNA) with Norwalk Memorial Home, then transferred to Registration while working on his Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) license at Sandusky Career Center. He worked in a variety of departments including Emergency Department as a resource and transition representative and The Center for Wound Healing as a hyperbaric safety coordinator in the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy department. He then decided to go back to Sandusky Career Center go get this Registered Nurse (RN) license.

Keaton currently works as a staff nurse on 2 north and is hoping to go back to school to get his bachelor’s degree. Nursing is a career he sees himself in for a long time.

“I like the flexibility of nursing,” he said. “There are always job opportunities in many different settings. Nursing also provides many different challenges throughout one’s career with continual changes in the medical field.”

Keaton said he plans on utilizing educational assistance offered by Fisher-Titus.

“I think the educational assistance program available at Fisher Titus is great, it definitely made the decision much easier to continue with my education knowing Fisher Titus would help financially,” Keaton said.

Keaton said he would encourage anyone to work at Fisher-Titus.

“I have been able to learn and develop so much as a health care professional because of the experience I have received from Fisher-Titus,” he said. “My coworkers are great and extremely helpful. Fisher-Titus is great place for someone looking for career growth and development.”

Cathy Robustellini started her career as an emergency medical technician (EMT) in January 1980 after attending classes at EHOVE. Upon receiving her certification, Cathy began working for Norwalk Ambulance Service. This was a very part-time position where the scheduled Driver/EMT had the squad at their residence and when a call came in, they responded to their scheduled partner's residence, picked them up, and responded to the scene.

In 1984, Cathy attended classes and completed her Advanced EMT Certification. In April of that year, Milan Fire/EMS and Norwalk Ambulance joined forces, spear-headed through Fisher Titus, and became North Central EMS— the brainchild of Mr. Pat Martin, former President & CEO of Fisher-Titus. She joined the newly-established North Central EMS and became a paramedic in 1988. Today, Cathy is the only full-time employee that has been with North Central since its inception 34 years ago.

"I am not sure what motivated me to become part of EMS," said Cathy. "Before working as a full-time EMT, I worked as a legal secretary in Norwalk. While working in the legal field, I had many friends in law enforcement— many of them also worked part time for Norwalk Ambulance. I was intrigued. I had a desire to help people, that was the way I was raised. If someone needed something, you helped them. Being in EMS, you gain many friends. You work 24-hour shifts, often with the same person every third day. Your partner becomes your family."

Cathy has many awesome memories. Some as amazing as delivering four healthy baby boys, and some that were the worst days of someone's life.

"Those are the days that we learn the most from," said Cathy. "That we have to pick ourselves up and just move forward. I have cried and prayed with family members; I am not ashamed of that."

About 32 years ago, Cathy became a CPR Instructor through The American Heart Association and, under Fisher-Titus as a Training Center, North Central EMS became a training site. Being able to teach members of our community how to help others and save lives speaks volumes.

"I never realized the domino effect that teaching life-saving skills would have. But my biggest passion is probably the kids," said Cathy.

She began teaching Safety Town to kids that would soon be going to Kindergarten in Greenwich about 15 years ago. Cathy says this is an excellent time to fill their little brains with knowledge about being safe and that EMS, Fire, Police and K-9 units are their "safe" friends. Children have the opportunity to learn many things from these first responders including "Stranger Danger" and making smart choices. They also can to take their first school bus ride while learning about bicycle, playground, and railroad safety. Cathy has watched many of these children grow up, graduate, and become young adults.

"If I had to do all of this all over again, I wouldn't change a thing, said Cathy. "I truly love my job and my company."

Kelly Schaffer, BSN, RN, has been a nurse in the emergency department at Fisher-Titus for roughly 30 years.

What’s kept her in the same department for so many years?

The patients she encounters each day.

“Patients are so appreciative,” Kelly said. “I can walk into the room and they’ll say, ‘I’m so glad you’re here, Kelly’. They settled down as soon as they see me because I’m a familiar face.”

This community feel is what attracted Kelly to Fisher-Titus when she had graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Nursing from the University of Toledo.

“It’s being part of the community and adding to it,” she said. “My mother-in-law worked here, and she said it was a great place to work.”

When Kelly first joined the Fisher-Titus family she worked in ICU and the step down unit for a year. Then she found her calling in ER. She worked as a staff nurse until 2017 when she became a critical care specialist in the department.

“It’s challenging and ever-changing,” Kelly said of working in the ER. “You have to know about everything. It’s the thrill of saving lives and knowing you can make a difference. I go home thankful for the life I have – it could change in an instant.”

Another one of Kelly’s roles has been to serve as a preceptor to new nurses to the organization.

“I like building competencies and confidence in them to take care of patients,” she said. “I’m the cheerleader here.”

Kelly has made such an impact during her tenure at Fisher-Titus that she was recently nominated for Ohio Hospital Association’s (OHA) Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award in which she was a top five finalist. Kelly was also the winner of the first of its kind Fisher-Titus Nurse Excellence Award in 2015 and is a past winner of the Florence Nightingale award – one voted on by Emergency Department staff.

“Fisher-Titus has been honored to have Kelly as a part of our nursing family for 30 years,” a fragment of her nomination read. “Kelly’s passion for patient care is inspiring; she embraces the opportunity to impact someone’s life, every person, every day, with unconditional compassion.”

When Kelly was looking at careers and chose nursing, it took a little convincing on her mom’s part, especially because there were no other nurses in the family.

“Mom said if I can work as a nurse’s aide, then I can go to school for nursing,” Kelly said, noting that nursing has been a very rewarding career. “You have to really listen – not just to the patient, but the family and the doctor,” she said. “You have to remember that’s what we are here for – to help people. There will be rough days but also awesome days.”

In 2018, Angela Hansen started her career with Fisher-Titus in Dietary as a Food Service Worker. When Angela moved to Norwalk, she had heard good things about Fisher-Titus and had previous food service experience that made her a great fit. While in her role, Angela was able to deliver food to rooms and interact with patients throughout her shift.

“I really enjoyed being around the patients and knew with my own personal diabetic experience that I wanted to do more within health care, specifically Diabetes Education,” Angela said.

In January 2021, Angela started her journey of becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse at EHOVE Career Center, all while continuing to work in dietary and balancing a second job. She was able to apply for Fisher-Titus’ Educational Assistance Program. The Educational Assistance program provides partial funding towards courses that lead to the completion of a degree, licensing, or certification. The goal of this program is to encourage the development of our employees through formal education.

Angela graduated her LPN program in June of 2022 and started as an LPN in the Oncology department at Fisher-Titus, in September of 2022.

“I was looking for an LPN position that I would enjoy and would allow me to continue to get my RN. I’ve met aides that work in Oncology, and they really like it and speak highly of the department. The Oncology schedule is 8AM-4PM, no weekends or holidays. This gives me the option to go back to school at night,” Angela said. Although becoming an RN is the next step in her career, her ultimate goal is to become a Diabetes Educator.

“I’d recommend applying to Fisher-Titus to anyone,” Angela said. “It doesn’t matter where you start, you can always move up or around within the organization.”