Julissa Ramos, BSN, MSN
Julissa Ramos, BSN, MSN
Staff Nurse
NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services
23 years of service
“My approach to patient care can be characterized as compassionate and patient-focused.”
Life can sometimes take you in a different direction than you expect, a fact that Brooklyn native Julissa Ramos learned when she became ill during her first year of college.
“I began college to pursue an accounting degree; however, in my first semester I became ill and required hospitalization,” she recalls. “During my hospital stay I remember being afraid. The feelings of uncertainty overwhelmed me. However, the nurse taking care of me did so with such tenderness and care that the experience positively impacted my life. I remember thinking to myself, ‘That’s it, that’s what I want to do, to help people’.”
Ramos earned her Associate’s degree in Nursing at LaGuardia Community College and went on to obtain her Bachelor of Science Nursing degree from Downstate University and her advanced nursing degree from Stony Brook University.
Ramos is a staff nurse based at the Vernon C. Bain Center in the Bronx. She conducts intakes, administers medications, and delivers wound and diabetic care for Correctional Health patients.
Her experiences at NYC Health + Hospitals and other health care organizations have included work in medical-surgical intensive care and critical care. “I always sought learning opportunities to enhance my performance and clinical skills,” she notes.
Ramos also worked in the international arena. “Mission work has always been a passion of mine,” she explains. “In January 2018 and January 2019, I joined a surgical team on medical missions to Quito, Ecuador, where I assisted in organizing and performing surgical procedures to correct lip and palate deformities in children and hernia repairs in adults. The experience was so rewarding that I returned to Quito, Ecuador, with the Medical Missions for Children, to once again join a team of 30+ healthcare professionals to perform life-changing surgeries on children. The gratitude received by the people I served reminded me of the reason I chose nursing as a career. I am humbled to be able to use my nursing expertise to help people globally.”
“In my nursing care, I aim to put the patient’s feelings and experiences first. In communicating with them, I seek to connect with them on a personal level and ultimately meet their needs. When patients feel that their needs and wishes are valued, it empowers them and promotes a positive working relationship with the nurse,” she said.
Ramos says she feels a strong desire to serve others. “Serving others creates a positive working relationship with patients and it promotes teamwork among members of your health care team,” she points out. “I consider teamwork to be an essential component in achieving positive patient outcomes and organizational goals.
“In my years of nursing, I learned that every interaction and moment with a patient matters,” she continues. “The patient-nurse experience can have a lasting impression on a patient’s life and to a certain degree, the nurse’s life. Some of the best moments that I’ve experienced in my nursing career are having patients and family members thank me for the care and attention received.”