The priorities and makeup of modern care teams warrant most nurses to perform in a “player-coach” role: taking lead on both individual care plans as well as systemic strategies for community-based care. At the Camden Coalition, the diverse and in-depth expertise of our trained nurses helps us thrive. Nurses play critical roles, both on and off the care team, in realizing our mission of demonstrating and advancing equitable ecosystems of care.

To celebrate the conclusion of National Nurses Week (held annually in May), we spoke with five nurses working at the Camden Coalition to learn more about their unique backgrounds, their roles within our team, and how nursing inspires and informs their work every day:

• Colleen McCauley, Policy and Advocacy Director
• Gladys Antelo-Allen, Associate Director of Education and Training
• Janine Gibbons, Associate Director of Technical Assistance
• Renee Murray, Director of Education and Training
• Sandra Drake, Nurse Care Coordinator

What inspired your path toward becoming a nurse?

Gladys: I’ve always been a natural nurturer. As one of the older siblings in my household, I helped care for my younger sisters and supported my family in small but meaningful ways — translating at doctor’s appointments, coordinating medications, and advocating when things didn’t make sense. As a teenager growing up in a poor community, I worked at the local McDonald’s and often connected with customers who were unhoused or living with addiction. Those moments taught me early on how powerful it is just to listen and treat people with dignity, no matter their situation. Nursing felt like the most natural extension of who I already was: a caregiver, advocate, and someone who sees people beyond their circumstances.

Renee: While still working as a high school teacher, I spent a summer in the Dominican Republic volunteering with a medical team and was setting up makeshift pharmacies in mountain towns bordering Haiti. When I returned from that experience, I decided to go to nursing school.

Sandra: I saw a nurse in a white uniform walking in the Bronx who was of the same race and ethnicity as me. She spoke with passion about the job and the love she had for all the patients. The conversation ended with her saying, “You could be one if you want.” Well, it’s been 40 years as a registered nurse, and I love the job and the patients.

What is your specific role with the Camden Coalition, and how does your background in nursing apply to your work today?

Colleen: Policy and advocacy, as well as project implementation and management. My nursing experience of working directly with patients, clients, healthcare providers, and community organizations is all relevant to the work I do at the Camden Coalition. Nursing also traditionally approaches people in a holistic manner. Mr. Smith isn’t just “the patient with insulin-dependent diabetes,” and I don’t only address that health condition. He’s a person, and he has diabetes and other health and social needs, as well as different assets.

Janine: I work with the technical assistance team providing support to a variety of partners. I can apply both my clinical background and experience in community health to the work I do daily.

Renee: Currently, alongside an amazing team, I develop and deliver trainings to workforces across the country, and am building the Camden Coalition Learning Center to be the place to go for all complex care workforce development needs.

What are some of the unique aspects of the nurse’s role in complex care compared to the average nursing job?

Colleen: It’s community health and some public health — not hospital or facility-based work. We’re guests, visitors, or partners in people’s houses. We don’t follow a cookie-cutter nursing plan of care typically used in hospitals. The care is much more individualized because it can be. We typically gain a better sense of how people actually live their lives and their common behaviors and resources in their communities — which all lends itself to creating a more personalized plan of care. There’s usually more interaction with the person’s family as well.

Gladys: Nurses in complex care go beyond traditional clinical duties. We build trust, coordinate across fragmented systems, and address the social drivers of health that deeply impact outcomes. But what really sets this work apart is that it doesn’t end when the patient interaction is over; that’s really where it begins. We have a responsibility to take what we’re learning on the ground and use it to advocate for better systems, share insights, and push for change. It’s a role that takes empathy, creativity, and a real commitment to being part of the solution.

Renee: It’s another world! A complete shift in engagement, priorities, purpose, and mindset. You really have a unique opportunity to build relationships and deliver care that is person-centered.

How has your perspective on nursing changed since you’ve started your work? How is the field evolving further?

Gladys: When I first started nursing, I saw it mostly as task-based — get the medications, take the vitals, and solve the problem. And while that’s still important, my perspective has shifted. I’ve learned that just because we can fix something doesn’t mean we always should — not without slowing down and asking, “What does this person want for themselves?”

Our clinical training is powerful, but the real impact comes when we use it to support patients in making their own choices and seeing the whole person in front of us. More than ever, the field is embracing nurses as not just caregivers, but as leaders, advocates, and educators who can change how care is delivered, especially for folks with the most complex needs.

Janine: Nursing is much more expansive than I imagined. This is a good thing. I think nurses will continue to be instrumental in healthcare reform, patient care, and advancing health equity.

Sandra: I’ve learned more about authentic relationship-building — how to grow trust with my patients. I also learned about cultivating partnerships beyond the bedside. Building professional relationships can help you to advance your career, and therefore better serve your patients and apply your passion toward advancing healthcare overall.

What is your proudest moment in nursing?

Colleen: A couple come to mind. One is the day Philadelphia City Council unanimously voted to pass a lead paint poisoning bill into law to strengthen rental property rules and protect infant residents, after a two-year effort to get this done by a sizable coalition that I built and facilitated. Another is a book reading and signing event I managed with a group of girls to organize to promote a book they wrote about their lives via an afterschool group I facilitated at the community health center I worked at. They were so proud and excited.

Janine: I think my proudest moment as a nurse was building the care coordination team at my federally qualified health center. When I started, we were a team of 5. When I finished, we were 23 strong — supporting patients, providers, and the community.

Sandra: Helping to keep a mom and her newly delivered preterm baby alive until paramedics arrived. I do not have OB/GYN experience, but my compassionate nursing care and faith helped me to keep both alive until help arrived. This experience was so amazing that it helped me love community health for life.

Nursing is a rewarding profession for those who are passionate about providing quality healthcare services to all.

What is your advice for nurses looking to improve care for people with complex health and social needs?

Gladys: Your role as a nurse is fundamental in this space. Lean into your clinical knowledge but also stay open to learning from the people you serve. This type of work requires us to be patient and to be open to learning. Approach patients, partners, and colleagues with humility, and stay curious. Curiosity keeps us learning, growing, and questioning the status quo — and that’s what drives the kind of innovative care models and practices that this field so urgently needs.

Janine: I think to care for people with complex health and social needs, you must be willing to listen and immerse yourself in the community and their lives.

Sandra: Always provide patient-tailored care plans and remember caregivers, family, the community, providers, and even pets play a crucial role in supporting overall well-being.