Consultant Navigates The Variety Opportunities For Nursing In San Francisco
While 62.3 percent of U.S. nurses work at hospitals, according to survey results reported by UCSF, many other opportunities exist in the nursing ecosystem. Nearly 11 percent of nurses work in ambulatory care, 7.8 percent in community/public health, 6.4 percent in home health, 5.3 percent at retirement communities, 3.8 percent at schools, and 3.9 percent in other capacities. One R.N. who decided to take the road less traveled is Veda Putnam, R.N., M.S.N.
After earning her undergraduate degree from UC Santa Cruz and early childhood teaching certificate from Cañada College, Putnam worked as a head teacher and subsequently as director of corporate childcare at Genentech Inc. She then earned her R.N. and master's degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "I specialized in pediatric medical and surgical nursing," Putnam said, adding that she had lots of hands-on experience at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
One of the many invaluable things she learned while going through the nursing program and attending Johns Hopkins was that she didn't want to work in a hospital. After returning to the San Francisco Bay Area and taking time with her family, Putnam described being a bit underwhelmed in starting her post-R.N. career as a physician relations manager at the hospice company Vitas Healthcare. After a year, she decided the job wasn't ideal. Rather than elder care, "I wanted to focus on children, and people trying to have children," she said.
Putnam is now working as an independent consultant at EmbraceHer Health, which provides women and families with evidence-based reproductive health education as part of a 24/7 support service to inform the public about the best health products recommended by clinicians. "Our maternity service, Pregnancy Companion MD, is the only app developed by board-certified obstetrician," Putnam said. She described her role at EmbraceHer as focusing on operations and project management.
Having already deployed its mobile app for expecting and new mothers, EmbraceHer also offers services for healthcare providers, nurses and doctors. The company is now getting ready to deploy its members services to provide expertise on women's health and pediatric health.
Residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, Greg is a patented inventor, technology enthusiast and intrepid journalist. He finds inspiration in diverse experiences, organizations, people and places -- from restaurants to politics, movies, music and, most of all, his daughter.
