Sagent Portraits of Success---RN Kristen Paul
By Ugur Akinci

Interview By: Ugur Akinci, Ph.D.

Kristen Paul is such an honest and straightforward person she doesn't mind admitting that nursing was not her first choice for a career when she was in college. Back then, she wanted to be an accountant, actually. But of course that was not the end of her wide ranging interests. Kristen also loved flying. She took private flying lessons and wanted to be a pilot. So she signed up with the U.S. Army Reserve while still in school to enjoy aviation as a life-long hobby until, that is, she was stopped in her tracks by the unexpected... She was told she could not become a military pilot because she was just one eight of an inch too short for the job.

*** Road to Healthcare

Instead, the Army offered to send her to the medical school so she could become a doctor. "I don't like hospitals and blood," she said. And "the thought of another 8 years of school was too much," Kristen admits. So she turned down the offer. Nursing school was the second offer. After thinking about it for a while and partially lured by the "huge job security" offered by nursing, Kristen said yes and took a step towards a new career in medicine and healthcare. . Kristen worked the first ten years as an LPN, the last seven as an RN, and never looked back.

*** Memories of Biloxi

As she explains in her well-written web site (www.kristenpaul.com) she has spent the earlier part of 2006 down in Biloxi, Mississippi helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina. As anyone who had been to the devastated region can easily understand, Kristen returned home from that experience with mixed feelings. "It's sad to leave feeling like there's unfinished business here," she wrote in her web journal. "But realistically, it's going to be unfinished business for years to come, and as one person, the difference I can make is minimal."

*** Enter -- Sagent

But the rest of the year was not as gloomy. Just when she was thinking about giving travel nursing a try, Kristen met Heather Bruce, Sagent Healthstaff's account manager who since then has been promoted to Southeast Regional Manager. "Heather is the main reason why I have signed up with Sagent back in October 2006 and she is the reason why I'll stay with Sagent," Kristen admits. How's that for quality personal service delivered in this day and age of impersonal sales pitches and click-this click-that Internet shopping?

*** Lancaster, PA

Kristen's first Sagent assignment was Lancaster, PA, the horse-and-buggy Amish country; a quiet corner of America which still retains its old world charm. Kristen has been happy at the Lancaster Hospital (pronounced LINKS-ter and not LAN-caster, Kristen kindly warns us) delivering care to many in need, and making a lot of new friends in the process. Thanks to the fantastic benefits package Sagent has delivered, which includes complimentary deluxe residence, Kristen pats herself on the back for the good choice she made last October and credits Heather Bruce for her help in guiding the process along the way.

*** Cape Cod, MA

Kristen liked her Lancaster assignment so much that she has recently extended her travel nurse contract until March 2007. The next Sagent stop on her career will be Cape Cod, Massachusetts which would also bring her very close to her parents both of whom occupy an important part in her life. Back in New England where she grew up, Kristen will have the chance to be close to her mom who is expecting to undergo an operation in Spring. But she is also delighted that she will have the chance to be with her dad again and participate in yet another Father-Daughter Golf Tournament. Yes, as you might have guessed it, Kristen's avid interest in golf runs in the family.

*** Florida in her mind

But Kristen probably will not stay for too long in Cape Cod since she has her eyes on Florida. Why? "After all that I went through to get my Florida nursing license it would be a shame not to work there at all," says Kristen with her usual frankness. So probably sometime in the future we'll see Kristen not only bringing the best of healthcare to her patients down in the Sunshine State but also teeing off at some of the best golf courses available anywhere. She and her husband hope to continue her travel career together by working close to some of the country's best golf destinations once his children are grown and are on their own.

*** 10 Questions and Answers

1. Who is your favorite living American? "My mother, father, husband and Dr. Phil (of TV fame)."

Who is your favorite world figure, living or dead? Why? "Ronald Reagan. He shaped the world I grew up in."

3. What's your most unforgettable childhood memory? "All of the things we did as a family when I was growing up, ranging from golf tournament vacations to beach trips and ski weekends in New Hampshire,"

4. If you had the chance to star in a movie, which one that would be? In what role? "Playing opposite Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). I'd love to have the part that Debra Winger played."

5. What is one thing that you are very happy about in your life? "A good night's sleep... because when I'm stressed, sleep is the first thing that goes. A good night's sleep means all is well in my world, from family to friends to my pets to how things are at work."

6. If you had a million dollars, what is the first thing you would do? "I'd take a long vacation and play all of the world's best golf courses."

7. What names you love the most? "'Leah' for females. My middle name is 'Lee' and I always wished it were 'Leah.' And for males, 'Anthony.'

8. What is your favorite food? "Pasta, steak and avocados. And most definitely not fish or anything that swims."

9. What 3 qualities you like in a person? "Kindness. Quick wits. Sincerity. People should mean what they say and say what they mean.

10. If you were the one conducting this interview, what other question would you ask and how would you answer it? "The question would be -- in one sentence, describe your life philosophy. And I would answer it with the title of a Tim McGraw song: 'Live like you were dying.'"

Kristen is young, strong and so full of life she has no reason to think about death and dying in a literal sense. But then, as a healthcare professional who faces life and death situations on a daily basis, it is perhaps only natural for her to entertain such a philosophical take on our human predicament. Kristen Paul is going places with the full wind of her correct career choice in her sails. We wish her many happy travels and endless hole-in-ones in life.

Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a senior writer and content developer for Sagent Healthcare.