When Shenequa Dore-Hamilton was 12-years-old she saw someone die of a heart attack. She felt helpless at the time.
“I wanted to help in that emergency, but I didn’t know how,” Dore-Hamilton says. “That experience made me decide to be a nurse.”
Now a registered nurse, Dore-Hamilton is the charge nurse in the emergency room at Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital handling all sorts of emergencies.
In other words, she is the nurse in charge of the emergency room and keeps things flowing smoothly, overseeing a staff of 33. Dore-Hamilton admits she is an adrenalin junkie and loves the constant fast pace of the ER. She added there is a triage nurse too.
“I see an ER nurse as an investigator solving a mystery,” Dore-Hamilton says. “Sometimes I see the perfect text book scenario and match it.”
One patient came in with pains and symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy and claimed she wasn’t pregnant, but Dore-Hamilton saw the risk and the young lady was whisked away for emergency surgery.
Emergency rooms don’t always have the best reputation, but Dore-Hamilton handles disgruntled people gently and with “sweet talk.” She finds out what they want, works with them and then makes compromises.
Dedication to her work and to seeing her patients have the best care possible are her goals. Just last week she heard 12 of the 16 ER beds were occupied so she came in keep things flowing smoothly, even though she was on vacation.
She says she was fortunate she had the opportunity to work at Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital in the Summer Youth Employment program beginning in 1995 and during summer breaks from college.
In 1996 she was class salutatorian at Free Will Baptist School, excelling in science and math. She has her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of the Virgin Islands St. Thomas. She worked in Dr. Anne Treasure’s and Dr. John Franklin’s offices before starting at Juan Luis six years ago.
Dore-Hamilton says her dream is to own and operate a nursing home.
“There is a real need here for long-term care homes for elderly,” Dore-Hamilton says. “There are too many elderly long term care patients left in the hospital by family.”
She loves to spend time with her husband Eustace Hamilton and her two daughters Alyssa, 6, and Amaya, 4.
