2:55

Mandy Dageford

February 07, 2023

Video Transcript


Speaker: Mandy Dageford

Please start by introducing yourself, your role, and when you started at PrairieCare.

Mandy Dageford: Hello, I Am Mandy Dagerford I'm the Cno at Prairie Care and I've been with the organization since April of 2013, so just about 10 years.

Please share your why. Why did you choose to work in mental health?

Mandy Dageford: My career in the mental health field started about 30 years ago when I became a nurse. My frontline nursing experience really spanned over about three different types of environments. Um one of them being inpatient mental health at a downtown Minneapolis safety net hospital. Um I also have experience at the Hennepin County jail where there's approximately 850 inmates per night and about 40% or more of them actually have an access one mental health diagnosis. And lastly, um I have worked in a psychiatric emergency room where really we treat patients that were in the throes of acute psychiatric illness. All throughout those time, those settings I really felt that was a privilege for me to be invited into my patient's lives at you know, times where they really needed somebody to stand by them and somebody on their side. It's the stories of those patients that have really kept me doing the work that I'm doing for both patients and their families. The root of my nursing has been really to provide safe, compassionate, nonjudgmental care and to really be true, a true advocate for both the patients and their families.

Tell us about working at PrairieCare.

Mandy Dageford: Here at PrairieCare, I'm deeply inspired by our staff that are on the frontlines caring for our patients. My strong advocacy, for mental health continues, but it's not solely focused on patients or their families anymore. It's also directed at every staff working within our organization. They're the ones that are really doing the hard work creating an inclusive culture where staff feel valued, safe, cared for and where they can contribute the unique set of skills and continue to learn and grow is really my main focus. My hope is that staff can find their purpose, lean into it and truly know the difference that they're making in our patients lives. This is the basis of what has sustained my career in this field, and I want others to experience that same feeling.



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