The Oregon Caregiver SPRING/SUMMER 2024 www.ohca.com 18 provide to nurses through my role at NurseLearn” July says. “Because, I wanted to do a good job. I needed to do a good job—for my residents, for my care staff, for my growth as a nurse, for my own self- confidence, and for this very special place in old town Portland that made me feel like I belonged.” “Now, as a mentor, I strive to be a change agent for nurses that find themselves in my similar situation: feeling isolated, craving support, in constant search for resources and answers, and learning solely through trials and tribulations,” she says. “Because through it all, we are committed to the residents and their care, to the team, to the community, and to this special corner of the nursing world where we belong.” For more information on NurseLearn’s free enhanced program for nurses in community-based care, visit https://nurselearn.com/odhs/. July Lumague-Test is the lead nurse mentor at NurseLearn, an education resource for nurses in community-based care settings. Meet July Lumague-Test, MN, RN, NE-BC, the lead nurse mentor at NurseLearn, a free education and resource hub for nurses in community-based care settings. July’s story starts straight out of nursing school. “My first nursing job in the hospital setting quickly confirmed what I already knew about myself and where I did not have an interest in growing as a nurse. I innately knew that the hospital setting wasn’t the right fit for me.” But, with her formal training and education positioning her for a career in acute care, July found herself asking, “Where do I belong?” “In my search for professional growth, I applied to many different healthcare settings,” she recounts. “And, by pure luck—or some may call it fate—I landed a job as a nurse at an assisted living facility. Not just any assisted living facility, but a facility in Old Town, Portland that serves a population of residents with a history of addiction, incarceration, homelessness, trauma, and complex behavioral and mental health needs.” With her background in special education—where educators are trained to take a “whole-child” approach that considers how learning outcomes depend not only on the quality of education, but also on a number of social and personal factors like safety, physical health, mental health, and access to support systems—community-based care (CBC) nursing came naturally to July. “This approach of looking at the resident as a whole person, whose life experiences and life situations matter just as much as their diagnosis and medical history, was something that I automatically did.” “It was in this specific role, in this exact building, where I found my niche. Really, it’s where I found myself. It’s where I grew as a nurse. It’s where I tried and failed and got up to try over and over again. It’s where I succeeded. It’s where I thrived. It’s where I became a nurse leader,” she remembers. “It’s where I belonged.” July’s path was not without its difficulties, though. “The journey was truly a struggle,” she shares. This role can be isolating. “Being the only nurse in the building, I felt alone, without peers to lean on and separated from the rest of the nursing world. There was so much that I didn’t know, including where to find answers, who to reach out to, or even what questions to ask.” “Words cannot describe what a difference the support, advocacy, and guidance of mentorship would have made for me at the beginning of my CBC journey—the kind of mentorship I am now able to July Lumague-Test instructs nurses as part of NurseLearn’s programming. Journey to Community-Based Care Nursing: Caring for Residents as Whole People Interview with NurseLearn’s Lead Nurse Mentor, July Lumague-Test By Alayna Amrein, Communications Coordinator, NurseLearn SPONSORED CONTENT
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