7QUESTIONS+PLUS

Shawn Zwrigzdas, Chief Operating Officer for the Kenosha Visiting Nurse Association, a place she’s worked since 1982. She also works for the Accreditation Commission for Health Care, surveying home health care agencies across the United States to ensure they meet certain standards of care. Zwrigzdas and her husband of 30 years, Jim, have two golden retrievers. She’s an avid Green Bay Packers fan and a NASCAR fan, and she believes Christian values — along with regular visits to your doctor — are an important part of daily living.

Shawn Zwrigzdas will now take your questions ...

What are your duties as chief operating officer of Kenosha Visiting Nurse Association? My job is equally challenging and rewarding as it directly affects the care of others and the professional growth of our staff. It is my responsibility to develop, administer and evaluate the delivery of home health care, health promotion services and correctional health services for the corporation and its affiliates. My role is to ensure that nursing, therapy, social services, home health aide, correctional health and community services are provided with optimum effectiveness and that day to day support services are efficient and effective. I am also responsible for overseeing and organizing the performance improvement process for all programs in accordance with governmental regulations and accreditation standards by which services are assessed and improved.

What led you to a career in nursing? I wanted to take care of others. It truly is a gift being allowed to provide the care that can improve the well-being and daily lives of individuals.

What’s the best advice you have for people who want to stay healthy? I feel that the conscientious practice of preventive health care is the best advice I can give. See your doctor regularly, exercise, eat in moderation and don’t underestimate the value of reducing stress in your life. Try to make laughter a part of each day. Even on our busiest and most stressful days, we laugh at our office … we laugh a lot.

Our healthcare system is always in the news and under scrutiny. How would you fix it? First and foremost I feel that people need to be more responsible for their own health. In order to achieve this, I would make preventive health care a mandatory part of public education.

Is it really important to get a flu shot? I feel very strongly that everyone, without a vaccine contraindication, needs to get a flu shot. It is paramount that high risk individuals and the elderly be vaccinated. Current recommendations are also for infants and healthy adults to be vaccinated against the flu. If you are in contact with anyone in the high risk or elderly population and you have not received a flu shot, you can still cause harm to others even if they have been vaccinated because they have a weaker immune response. Influenza is still a leading cause of death in the U.S., but it is largely preventable. I feel it’s very important for health care workers to get vaccinated as well to protect themselves and their patients. Then there is always the valid concern about a pandemic — it isn’t a matter of “if” it will come, it’s a matter of “when” it will be here.

What significant changes have you seen in nursing or health care? There are fewer people going into the nursing field and those who are interested are finding it difficult to get into a nursing program due to lack of nurse educators. It is a very alarming situation. There are valid concerns that by the time all of the baby boomer generation become senior citizens there will not be enough nurses to care for them. I believe that a better health care system would have a higher ratio of nurses to patients.

Who’s your favorite nurse or doctor on TV or in the movies? That one is easy — Dr. McDreamy on “Grey’s Anatomy.”

If you weren’t working in nursing, what other job might you be doing? Green Bay Packers cheerleader — after all I am their biggest fan.

If you could change one aspect of your life to improve your health, what might you suggest? Hand washing! It is the number one infection control measure anyone can do, yet there are still many people who choose not to or don’t wash their hands properly with soap and water for at least 10-15 seconds. I can’t stress this enough.