Heart of Healthcare: Nurse of the Year Chelsey Pfiffner a 'health care hero'

As a child, Chelsey Pfiffner was fearful of hospitals and nursing homes. But after she challenged herself to work in a facility in high school, she found a passion for health care, which, matched with her personable approach, has put countless patients at ease in a stressful time.

As a teen, Pfiffner got a job as a dietary aid in a nursing home, discovering she "loved working with the older generation." In college, she studied to become a CNA, and later a registered nurse.

With Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse since 2015, she started in an observation unit before it closed. After switching to be a float nurse, Pfiffner worked primarily in the COVID unit in the first year of the pandemic. Many of the patients were in the hospital for multi-week stays, and visitation was prohibited out of caution.

"It was very challenging when they weren't allowed to have visitors and family members come to spend that time with them and try to calm their fears," Pfiffner says. "That was a big deal. It definitely was a hard time -- some of them didn't make it and they had to say goodbye to their loved ones on FaceTime or through the window, waving at them from down below in the parking lot."

One of her patients happened to be a colleague, nurse manager Christine McGinnis, who spent 34 days in the hospital in the summer of 2020, severely ill with COVID. It was Pfiffner's attentive, personable approach that helped Mcginnis through a time of "tremendous anxiety and depression," and led her to nominating Pfiffner for a Heart of Health Care award.

And for Pfiffner's dedication and compassion, the La Crosse Tribune selected her as Nurse of the Year.

"I'm very honored," Pfiffner says. "It's very amazing." 

All of the staff were "wonderful" during her hospitalization, McGinnis says, "But Chelsey really stood out with her compassion, kindness and caring attitude...Chelsey always took the time to help me work through the feelings I was having. She was there to offer support when it was most needed.

"I know that she was extremely busy with all her other patients that she needed to care for, but when she was in my room, she gave me all the undivided attention that I needed," McGinnis continued. "She never rushed her care with me and gave me the attention I needed at that time. She will never understand how much her compassion, kindness and caring attitude meant to me during this difficult time for me."

Since the beginning of her nursing career, Pfiffner has taken the approach of becoming acquainted with patients on a more personal level, and letting them know about her in return.

"I want to make them feel comfortable, getting to know me. That's always how I've taken care of patients," Pfiffner says. "I want to get to know them so I can take care of them better, and I also talk a little bit about me so they know who is taking care of them."

For COVID patients with extended stays, Pfiffner found making a connection especially meaningful.

"Getting to know someone who is taking care of you in your most vulnerable time -- I think that is important," Pfiffner says. "I think it's helpful and eases some of their fears."

When her job is stressful and emotionally draining, Pfiffner remembers how valuable dedicated caregivers are to a patient.

"My mom passed away 10 years ago and seeing how awesome the staff was for her during her hard times in the hospital -- that's really kept me going because I want to make that difference in family member's or patient's lives," Pfiffner says. "Whether it be just a short stay or a long stay that may not have the outcome they want. I want to make it as best as I can."

Pfiffner's supervisor, inpatient nurse manager Sheila Berra, calls her an" extraordinary nurse" who has the knowledge and flexibility to give the right care in the moment to patients in any setting, whether she is dispatched to the ER or an inpatient unit.

"Chelsey is such a compassionate person and she really displays our Mayo vision of 'the needs of the patient come first,'" Berra says. "She is a health care hero and wants to have an impact on our community, which is evident in the care she provides to all patients who are lucky enough to have her as their nurse."