“Working at Signallamp Health has given me the freedom to work from home and take care of my family while enriching the lives of the patients I interact with every day.”
– Mary Swerdon, RN, BSN
Signallamp Spotlight features interviews with some of our talented and passionate team members. Our goal is to provide a peek inside our organization, specific aspects of the profiled role, and a few lesser known details that offer a glimpse into the lives of our Signallamp family outside of work. This spotlight features Mary Swerdon, RN , BSN..
Tell us a little bit about your role and a day in the life.
My current nursing role at Signallamp Health is with a practice in Western New York. I touch base with my patients by calling them once a month and checking in. I make sure they understand instructions given by providers at appointments, the purpose of their medications and when and how to take them. I also make sure that no acute issues have arisen since we last spoke. Many times, patients will have questions that they forgot to ask during visits with their provider or sometimes they just feel uncomfortable telling their doctor they don’t understand the instructions given to them. I help them achieve a greater understanding of their chronic conditions and what they need to do to manage them. My patients know they can always call me, or a member of my team, with any issues or questions and that gives them a sense of comfort and security.
Why did you decide to do the work you are doing now?
I chose to be a Care Management nurse because I was looking for a work from home position where I could really make a difference in patients’ lives and also feel like an integral member of a team.
What’s your favorite thing about working at Signallamp Health?
Just one thing? I have a few! The ability to take care of my patients while working a flexible schedule from home, the teamwork within my practice with my fellow CCM nurses, and the trust that my employer has in me and my ability to care for my patients.
What’s the most poignant lesson you’ve learned about seniors from working in senior care?
Life is too short to have regrets! Enjoy your family and friends, take the vacation, wear the fancy shoes you were saving for “special occasions” because life is a special occasion.
What is special about the place you grew up?
I grew up in Northeastern PA but spent my childhood summers in Lake Placid, NY which is a small town in the Adirondack Mountains. Lake Placid hosted the winter Olympics twice and is an amazing place for year-round outdoor activity like skiing, fishing, hiking, and boating. I enjoyed my summers there so much and made so many wonderful memories, that I decided to move there for the majority of my 20’s and I will always think of that as my “home”.
What would be your ideal way to spend the weekend?
I would love to travel to Australia. I have always wanted to take a trip there to see the kangaroos.
What would be your ideal way to spend the weekend?
Spending it by the ocean in Southern Maine! I absolutely love traveling anywhere and seeing new places but I always come back to Maine! There are so many childhood memories there for me. I hope to one day live there permanently and am excited that if that opportunity should arise, I can take my career at Signallamp Health with me!