Joelle C. Laurenceau, MSN, CMSRN, RN
Joelle C. Laurenceau, MSN, CMSRN, RN
Head Nurse
NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue
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Excellence in Nursing Leadership
High-pressure situations aren’t for everyone, but for Joelle Laurenceau, working with patients with penetrating injuries in the Emergency Department while a student at Brooklyn College was the impetus for her to pursue a 10-year nursing career.
“I have a significant amount of patience and I bring a sense of calmness to the Emergency Department, which most of the time is very chaotic,” she points out. “I am able to prioritize and handle situations quickly before they get out of hand; my staff look to me as both a leader and a problem solver.”
“I love medicine and hands-on care at the bedside and nursing allows me do both, which I love,” she continues. “I have worked med-surge, critical care, and emergency medicine, and these experiences have made me an all-around nurse with the ability to take care of any type of patient. I love that as a leader and educator I am able to give the knowledge and skills I’ve learned through my experience to new nurses and build my team.”
“One of the things that I think has made me love bedside nursing is the connection you make with patients; when you take good care of someone during a vulnerable time, they never ever forget you.”Joelle C. Laurenceau, Head Nurse
Currently working as Head Nurse in the Emergency Department at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, Laurenceau strives to treat every patient with respect and compassion. “One of the things I love about working at Bellevue is that we take care of many disadvantaged and marginalized populations,” she comments. “No matter where you are from, how much money you have, or what language you speak, you deserve quality medical care. I hope that every patient in my care leaves me feeling like they matter and were treated with respect. As a nurse, I want my patients to know I care and I will advocate for them.”
Laurenceau says she strives to find ways to bring more educational experiences to staff, such as using nurse-oriented simulations to educate and prepare nurses for traumas and critical situations.
“As a leader I am constantly assessing ways I can be better,” she explains. “How can I support my staff better? What gaps can I fill to make new nurses more confident? How can I provide education to prepare my staff for high acuity situations? How do I improve retention and increase work ethic and morale? How can I improve metrics to make sure we are improving standards of care? These are questions I continue to ask myself all the time. Excellence is a standard I always want to attain and strive for as a leader in this department.”
Going forward, Laurenceau, sees the nursing profession changing and growing, adapting to the many lessons learned during the pandemic. “COVID was both the worst and best time of my nursing career,” she reveals. “It was a very scary time to be an RN but the way nursing came together during that time made us stronger as a profession. Many more people are going into the profession now and I think that’s a beautiful thing.”