National Nurses Week: Hannah Cox: Destined to go into nursing profession

Hannah Cox knows firsthand the possible perils of working in the nursing profession.

Cox, a licensed practical nurse (LPN) and 2009 Cape Central graduate, is scheduling coordinator and wound care nurse for Chateau Girardeau's nursing center and assisted living.

She began her work at Chateau — a continuing care retirement community in Cape Girardeau — in April 2020, a month after COVID became an unforgettable acronym for Americans

"I've had COVID four times since the pandemic began and had to be quarantined and had to miss work, and that was rough," said Cox, 32, a single mother raising two children, ages 11 and 5. "(COVID) was super hard on our residents, too, so we've been trying to spend extra time with them as our protocols permit."

Chateau management is unstinting in its praise for Cox, who is part of the bridge-to-RN online program through Excelsior University. Cox hopes to finish her formal schooling next year.

"(Hannah) has taken on multiple roles and challenges and is always willing to fill in," said Teresa Compton, Chateau's vice president of health services. "She truly has a nurse's heart."

Finding nursing

Hannah CoxSubmitted

Hannah CoxSubmitted

"I went to MERS-Goodwill and did an aptitude test, and they helped me to discover health care was my calling. I didn't have parents who finished any type of schooling, so I was on my own in that sense. It came to together when I did the testing — my likes and dislikes — and here I am," said Cox, who said she tried the traditional college experience after high school. "I attended SEMO for a couple of years and found I didn't really like the on-campus environment. A nursing program was more hands-on and more close-knit. Working with the same people day after day is more of my speed."

Cox identified an ongoing challenge in her work.

"We nurses want to finish things in one day, and sometimes that's not possible," she said, adding losing elderly people is an ongoing strain. "This is very hard and my coworkers are a big help in dealing with loss. We also have a wall in our staffing room with obituaries of residents clipped from the Southeast Missourian. These are death notices of residents who've meant a lot to us, and we can remember them every day. ... I've found I have a heart for taking care of people and it's been embedded in me to help others," said Cox.

Cox said working with elderly patients is rewarding.

"I love my residents and have gotten to know them as family — and I don't have a lot of family here, so they've been sort of grandparents to me," she said.

The future

"My dream would be to become wound-certified and eventually become a nurse practitioner," Cox said, adding she has also worked as an LPN in a drug rehabilitation facility.

"I like being in an administrative-type role. People look up to me, and I'm gaining a lot of confidence."