Amanda Jensen’s extensive knowledge of nursing and her love of patient care has made her an exceptional asset at NW Indiana ER & Hospital. As Chief Nursing Officer, Jensen is responsible for ensuring that quality care is given to everyone that enters the building on a day-to-day basis.
Jensen drew inspiration from her aunt when choosing a career in nursing.
“I’ve always wanted to help people. My aunt was a nurse and she seemed to love it, so I figured I would do it too,” Jensen said.
After completing school, Jensen started work at Munster Community Hospital. During that time, she gained experience in multiple areas of nursing. Most of her time at Community was spent in the emergency room.
Later, Jensen took the position of Chief Nursing Officer at NW Indiana ER & Hospital.
“Initially, I worked at Munster Community Hospital. I started on a rehabilitation floor in my first year of nursing and then I went down to the ER there for roughly 10 years. I went through different positions from doing regular floor nursing, to charge nurse, and then I was an assistant nurse manager at Community. Then I came upon this job,” said Jensen.
Jensen’s position requires her to immerse herself in both the patient and staff side of nursing. She appreciates the chance to experience both types of interactions.
“I love taking care of critical patients, but I also love the interactions with staff,” said Jensen.
Many of Jensen’s responsibilities occur behind the scenes. Aside from administrative tasks such as payroll and scheduling, Jensen is also in charge of ensuring proper care for patients by communicating with staff and checking medical charts.
“I do payroll, I order all the hospital supplies, and I do all of the employee schedules. From day-to-day, I make sure that the schedule is correct, and that we have enough staff for the patients. I do a lot of quality control so I look through charts to make sure everything is documented correctly and that we're still providing the care that we should,” said Jensen.
Throughout her extensive career, Jensen has never stopped learning.
“Recently, I became a nurse practitioner,” Jensen said. “One of my most memorable moments is actually doing sutures on a patient and doing great. Just having something new that I did and being happy that I was successful and the patient was happy was exciting. It looked good when they left here.”
Jensen’s passion for learning new skills and constantly improving has not gone unnoticed by the staff at NW Indiana ER & Hospital. Jensen’s willingness to step into action when needed has made her an irreplaceable component to the hospital.
“I love having really good staff that tells me that they appreciate me being in the position and just being there with them and still being able to do bedside nursing when they need help with patient care,” said Jensen.
When she’s not working to provide expert care to staff and patients at the hospital, Jensen enjoys spending time with her family.
“I have a seven-year-old daughter and two dogs, and I love spending time with them. I have a wonderful family,” Jensen said.
For more information about NW Indiana ER & Hospital, visit www.nwindianaer.com.
