Jim Klavon, RN, typically doesn’t know where he’ll be going when he arrives at UPMC St. Margaret for his shift each night.
As a senior resource pool nurse, he goes wherever he’s needed. And that could be anywhere in the hospital.
“They just tell me where I’m needed for the night, and depending on what floor, I go wherever they tell me to,” Jim says. “I’ve worked in the intensive care unit. I’ve worked on our step-down unit. Ortho, med-surg, emergency department. So, pretty much anywhere they need.
“I think the only place I’ve never actually worked was inside an operating room. But I’ve also worked in the PACU (post-anesthesia care unit) recovery room. Pretty much anywhere they need me, that’s the way it goes on a nightly basis.”
For his willingness and ability to fill many roles, Jim is this month’s UPMC Pittsburgh Penguins Healthcare Hero.
Jim has worked in nursing for 42 years, including over 20 years at UPMC St. Margaret. He worked in various units full-time — psychiatry, emergency department, intensive care, and more — before moving to the resource pool full-time.
As a resource pool nurse, Jim needs an extensive skill set because each unit has a different purpose and different types of patients. But he leans on his experience and the people he works with.
“Jim is dependable and a consistent part of the care team, even though he floats throughout the hospital,” says Dawn Rankin, MSN, RN, NE-BC, director, capacity management, resource pool, and support services, UPMC St. Margaret.
“Jim is admired as a senior nurse and often sought out for his knowledge and experience — or just for a new IV. He impacts the growth of our new nurses and provides a sense of support to the units.”
Before becoming a nurse, Jim was a Navy Hospital Corpsman, helping provide care to Navy members. To this day, he has a connection with patients who are veterans.
“Sometimes, we put little signs on the door, or you go in, and they have a hat on,” he says. “You thank them. You can sort of relate to them. You know some of the stuff they’ve been through. It touches me. It’s special.”
One of the lessons Jim learned in the Navy was the value of teamwork — the importance of the person next to you. That’s something he continues to value today with the people he works with at UPMC St. Margaret.
“An important part of it all is the people that I work with,” he says. “They’re really great people, and I get to know everybody in the whole hospital. The biggest change is when we have new people come in, and old people leave that you’ve been working with for years. But I’m mellow, tolerant, and get along with people generally.”
Dawn says Jim is an important part of the team, caring for his patients, co-workers, and families. She says he often hears from patients that Jim will take the time to listen to their medical concerns.
When a co-worker was recently in the hospital, Jim went to the cafeteria each morning to get her husband a cup of coffee, “knowing that the husband did not want to leave his wife’s bedside unless it was necessary,” says Emily Wickline, PhD, MSN, RN, CMSRN, senior clinician, resource pool, UPMC St Margaret.
“Jim is supportive and collaborative within the team,” Dawn says. “He advocates for changes to leadership and stands alongside his co-workers when they need help. After being a nurse for 40 years, you tend to have strong critical thinking skills, and Jim is always willing to share his knowledge with others.”
Jim acknowledges he gets “a little cranky” sometimes while “trudging (his) bones into the hospital.” But he says he’s holding up well physically and mentally and plans to work as long as he can.
“I like what I’m doing,” he says. “Luckily, I’m a nurse, and you’re not honed into one thing. I’ve done different areas of nursing. I like working with people, taking care of the patients, and definitely, the person next to me — the camaraderie.
“ … It’s satisfying. At the end of the day, I feel good about what I did. I helped someone.”