Employee Spotlight: Michelle Hepburn, RN Director of Emergency Services and Respiratory Therapy

I’m blessed to be able to pay it forward. I’m blessed to be in an environment that supports me, to have leaders and staff who have passion and vision. A lot of my staff are from Oakland. They are strong proponents of taking care of their own, because we’re family. This is our community.

Michelle Hepburn, RN
Director of Emergency Services and Respiratory Therapy

I’ve been a nurse for 15 years. I have joy in what I do, and joy in the people that I serve. You have to be passionate about what you do. And in nursing there are so many different avenues that you can take. You should never have an unhappy nurse, because you can transition into many wonderful, different things.

A recurring thing I hear from my patients is that Highland is home. This is their hospital. They take ownership over it. They are very proud of what it has to offer. And we don’t judge. So this is true healthcare for anyone who needs it.

Working in critical care is challenging. We meet people at the worst moments in their life. You are probably acutely ill, whether that’s physically, whether that’s mentally, whether you are reaching out for help or have a social need because you don’t have permanent housing. We meet the many different psychosocial aspects of patient care. We are connectors.

I am always a champion of the underdog. I’ve had the privilege of having, I’ve had the privilege of not having, and each has been a lesson learned.

I’m a firm believer in giving back. I am blessed to be able to pay it forward, and so I try to live that experience. I’m a licensed vocational nursing clinical instructor, that’s the newest role for me. I am passionate about teaching. I am not a spring chicken anymore, so I want to make sure that the nurses that are taking care of me and my community are representative of not just having that clinical knowledge base, but that psychosocial, emotional knowledge base.