Changing Lanes: Kristen Tavares, RN, Discovers Passion for Teaching
The Off-Shift Clinical Educator at Falmouth Hospital changes gears from emergency room RN to educating novice nurses, explains why she veered off course from working in the family business and shares her passion for drag racing.
While a student at Curry College working toward her BSN, Kristen Tavares learned medical terminology, anatomy, biology, chemistry and everything she needed to ace her exams.
But it wasn’t until she enrolled in the RN residency program for new graduates at Cape Cod Hospital in 2018 that she learned practical skills, such as the basic flow of a nurse’s workday; communicating with doctors and families; and practicing hands-on skills with hospital-specific equipment, such as learning how to insert peripheral IVs, review cardiac rhythms and perform blood transfusions.
For Tavares, the 12-week program was a game changer.
“Proper precepting time in the hospital is crucial to a new graduate’s success, and most hospitals’ training times vary, which is why this program was so attractive to me,” says Tavares. Since completing the residency program, the 26-year-old has worked in various roles at Cape Cod Healthcare—she started out as a med-surg nurse on Mugar 4, and two years later, moved to the emergency department at Cape Cod Hospital, where she worked as an RN and also precepted new nurses. The more she taught novice nurses, the more she realized her true calling.
Today, Tavares is the Off-Shift Clinical Educator at Falmouth Hospital, where she works mostly afternoons and evenings to educate staff (RNs and CNAs) on monthly rounding topics, such as chest tube education; mobility and falls; and mock codes (when a patient arrives with no heartbeat). She also assists staff with skills and procedures and answers questions about Epic and policy changes. Another key part of her workday is meeting with novice nurses, serving as a resource and support person. The RN residency program for new graduates is currently 26 weeks instead of 12 weeks and is one of the few programs accredited in the state by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
“My favorite part of my job is working with the novice nurses, showing them certain skills or procedures they’ve never done before,” says Tavares, adding she also teaches Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support classes monthly with her coworkers. “My passion for precepting and teaching helped steer me into taking that next step in my career in supporting and assisting new graduate RNs as they begin their careers here with Cape Cod Healthcare.”
Switching Gears
Kristen Tavares and Meghan Fuller, RN, at Falmouth Hospital, both agree the RN residency program is key to a new graduate's success.
Kristen hangs with Roman, her 4-year-old Great Dane, at the New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.
Last September, Kristen (seated) participated in Seaside Le Mans in Mashpee with Dr. Michael Hall, Dr. Nate Rudman, Kristin Murray, Dana Medeiros and Dr. Peter Bosco.
Growing up in Mashpee, Tavares figured she would one day help run the family landscape/excavation business in Falmouth with her siblings. Working there since she was 10 years old, Tavares would help with just about everything—from landscaping and laying sod to eventually obtaining her hydraulics license to operate excavators, front-end loaders and forklift equipment.
Although no one else in her family works in the healthcare industry, the 26-year-old was always drawn to medicine. During her formative years, she watched “Untold Stories of the E.R,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House.” She excelled in chemistry and anatomy classes in high school. However, it wasn’t until her dad, Gary, began to experience serious health problems that Tavares started seriously thinking about nursing school. Her dad was cared for at both Falmouth Hospital and Cape Cod Hospital throughout her high school years, and her family would often be by his side in the hospital rooms. “That’s when my views changed to go to nursing school,” says Tavares, adding her father today is in great health.
Working at Falmouth Hospital is a bit of a homecoming for the 26-year-old, since she grew up nearby in Mashpee and worked as a Patient Service Assistant at Falmouth Hospital in the summers during her college years. “I remember my first PSA badge here,” says Tavares. “It had our full name on it, and I would walk into a patient’s room and the person would say, ‘You are Gary Tavares’s daughter. I knew your grandparents. Let your dad know I said hi.’ Tavares also rents the house she grew up in and her commute is only 15 minutes to work. “I am a born and raised Cape Codder. I absolutely love and adore my home here and enjoy serving my community.”
A family that races together, stays together
During her down time, Tavares loves to drag race. She started junior drag racing when she was just 10 years old at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H. Her twin brother, Kyle, and sister, Jenna, soon followed her lead. “My dad always jokes that I made him broke because I got my siblings into racing as well,” says Tavares. The family traveled around the East Coast to attend racing events during the summers. The cars reached a maximum speed of 85 mph.
Once the trio “graduated” from the junior league, they moved into the National Hot Rod Association’s adult classes. Kristen and Kyle race a dragster that goes more than 180 mph (completing a quarter-mile in 7 seconds). Sister Jenna races a 1941 Willys that goes 150 mph (finishing a quarter-mile in 8 seconds).
Tavares explains that drag racing brought her family closer together since they spent so much time racing and traveling together. “My dad always says how lucky he was to be able to spend every weekend in the race season with his kids and ‘it kept us out of trouble.’”
Last September, Tavares was part of the Seaside LeMans team led by Nathan Rudman, MD, representing Cape Cod Healthcare. The fast-paced annual event, which benefits local causes, features European-style racing karts driven by local sponsors on a quarter-mile track around Mashpee Commons. Even though the karts only went up to about 35 to 40 mph, Tavares wouldn’t hesitate to join the team later this year. “It was my first year participating in this event, and I’m hoping they invite me again.”
Drag racing has taught Tavares invaluable life skills, such as sportsmanship, a sense of belonging and car mechanics—she learned how to change oil at age 10, and at 16, she was taking out motors and transmissions with her dad and brother.
“Ultimately, I love the adrenaline rush that drag racing gives me,” says Tavares, “going 180-plus mph is a blast and I would love to hit 200-plus mph!”
