Interview a Health Professional

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mPWzeoPPyazcFl5hI0mZMOsTVITykxJj/view?usp=sharing

From an Accidental Major to Being Her Passion!

For this interview assignment I interviewed my roommate’s mom, Ms. Maria Tortajada. She is an Registered Nurse (RN) currently working at two locations. She works as a school nurse at a middle school apart of Manassas Public Schools along with being a Forensic Nurse Examiner. Ms. Tortajada works for the Inova Department: Forensic Assessment Consult Group in Northern Virginia. (This is the only one in NOVA!) She has her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN), and a Master’s in Foreign Language. She is a Certified Diabetes Counselor for the Virginia Diabetes Council. She is also a interpreter for both the school and the Inova workplace. She is a PCRN, MRC (Medical Reserve Corps) and a Medical Assistant (MA), and has the following certifications: ACLS, BLS.

Fun Facts:

She went to Nursing School in Barcelona, Spain
Worked in the OR (operating room) for 15 years
She has been an RN for 30 years

When asking Ms. Tortajada her basic roles and responsibilities this is what she said: diagnose, provide First Aid, administers medications and IVs, she cleans, cares for her patients both physically and emotionally, be a helping hand and someone her patients can trust, last but least she assesses patients who are victims of both sexual assault and domestic violence. Some of the most challenging aspects of her career are multi-tasking, the emotional toll, unfortunate things happening to patients (especially those whom she had a connection with, and the unwanted outcomes. Some advice that Ms. Tortajada gave us was: don’t give up!, put in the time and effort, it is worth it in the long-run, get certified (as much as possible :)) and its a give or take.

I have learned/taken away from this interview that nursing is a profession that allows for so many different opportunities and allows you to do basically whatever you would like. The flexibility of nursing and the salary is great as-well. All of this while your saving lives!