Nurses Week Highlight #2

Claudia Aikens, a Licensed Practical Nurse at the Ansbach Army Health Clinic, also happens to be a Registered Nurse. She has been a nurse for more than 20 years, and began working for the military in 2009. She hails from Berlin, Germany, and said she has been working in Pediatrics forever. The most rewarding part of what she does is “when you have the first patient as a newborn and you follow them the whole time they are with you, whether it’s just three years, the kids come in and recognize you. They come in and they smile and you see them growing up.” However, it’s hard when they leave because they know her name and recognize her when they see her out and about in the community. “You kind of feel like the super star in the commissary,” she said. Pediatrics has it’s challenges though, and that comes with not only working with a sick patient, but also working with parents of a sick patient. “You have the worried ones. You have to be very sensitive sometimes and you have to be careful when you explain things because they soak it up like a sponge.” She said first impressions matter and being sensitive to the patients needs is a must at all times. “If you stay calm, they open up and they calm down and then you know how to help them.” Aikens said that being an avid reader helps her deal with the stress of being a nurse, and some days “you leave it at work otherwise it just eats you up.”

Pictured: Aikens completes an 18-month Well-Baby Exam on Sterling Valles, while his mother, Jasmine Valles, keeps him calm and still throughout the checkup