IANANT Nurse Spotlight - Beena Johnson
BSN, RN-BC
Nurse Manager
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Beena Johnson is a Nurse Manager whose typical day starts with meetings and rounds to ensure her team members have the adequate resources to run the unit well following quality standards. She makes it possible for her direct reports to be successful in doing their respective job well. To her team and future nurses, her advice is, “Always remember why you wanted to do this in the first place. Remember the passion that drove you. Always ask questions and create an open dialogue to have efficient communication. Know that you are one of the most important people working, and you are changing people’s lives every single day”. IANANT interviewed this inspiring new leader to know her professional story.
How did you land in your current role?
When I started nursing school, I was fascinated to learn more and take care of surgical patients. After I become a nurse, I made sure to work in the surgical unit. Career advancement opportunities in nursing continued to challenge me and grow. After 20 years of being a nurse, I got the opportunity to challenge myself and become an assistant manager. I learned a lot during this time and then rose an opportunity to become a manager. After evaluating my skills and experience, I decided I wanted to be a manager and that is how I ended up being a nurse manager.
What is the favorite part of your job? What are some of your challenges?
My favorite part of my job is my staff. I have been blessed with people who are dedicated and continue to work towards the common goal of creating a functional environment. Right now, my biggest challenge is acquiring all the information and resources to ensure that I can be my best to provide for my staff. Because I am a new manager, there is a lot of resources and sometimes it can be difficult to navigate through them. However, I have been blessed with some amazing mentors who have graciously guided me through this process.
What do you aspire to achieve in the next five years? How can IANANT help you in your professional development journey?
I aspire to learn as much as I can about leadership. My goal, as a new manager is to do the best I can and continue to challenge myself. I engage myself in various professional organizations and try to create a dialogue with other leaders to learn as much as I can. From IANANT, I want to learn more from other leaders and their styles of leadership.
How has nursing changed your life?
It has given me such an amazing opportunity to connect with people when they are at their most vulnerable. It has helped me stay grounded and helped remind me of how valuable life is. It is not only a profession for me, but it was also my life’s purpose and calling.
What do you do for fun? What is one surprising thing that others do not know about you?
I love spending time with my family, reading, and watching movies. Ironically, my biggest fear is public speaking, even though 95% of my job consists of speaking in front of people.