Cedars-Sinai Blog
Faces of Cedars-Sinai: Nurse Tiffany Stamps
Meet Tiffany Stamps, a nurse in Cedars-Sinai's New Graduate Registered Nurse Residency Program, a yearlong program that gives new nurses extra support, training and mentoring during their first year.
While Tiffany is new to nursing, she's not new to Cedars-Sinai or to our patients. She started in Food and Nutrition Services in 2008. She loved bringing patients their meals and soon decided she wanted to do more to help them heal.
"I loved being in the patient care environment. I used to love taking patients their trays of food. That one little thing—bringing them their trays—meant so much to them. I wanted to do so much more for them than just deliver their trays."
What jobs did you have at Cedars-Sinai before becoming a nurse?
Tiffany Stamps: I started off taking trays to patients, picking up their finished trays and washing the trays. I brought them their snacks and restocked the nurses' fridges for overnight shifts. After a few years, I was a captain—meaning I was the one making the food. I wanted full-time work, so I moved into Hospitality Services answering the famous extension: 3-4444. Everyone in the hospital calls that number to place work orders. If anything is broken, if anything needs to be cleaned or fixed, if you need Environmental Services for anything, that's the number you call.
When I started nursing school, I talked to my manager, who was also in charge of transporters, and I moved to patient transportation. I was excited to be closer to patient care after being on the phone for years, and that's where I worked while I was getting my nursing degree.
What made you decide to become a nurse?
TS: I loved being in the patient care environment. I used to love taking patients their trays of food. That one little thing—bringing them their trays—meant so much to them. I wanted to do so much more for them than just deliver their trays. I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but that first job here changed my whole mindset. Taking care of patients became my passion.
All the departments here have been so supportive as I've pursued my nursing career. They're happy to see people want to grow, and they want to help them get started. My management team allowed me to switch my schedule when I needed to, and I've been using the tuition reimbursement to help pay for my education.
Did the pandemic affect your decision to become a nurse?
TS: I'd just started my second semester of nursing school when the COVID-19 pandemic started. I considered withdrawing from the program and waiting until things got better but decided that I needed to push through. This is what happens in life and in the nursing field. There are going to be changes. We're going to need to adapt to situations, and our nursing skills are needed. I'm here now, and I'm glad I didn't give up.
It is a challenging time for new nurses to get clinical experience, but our preceptors and educators in the New Graduate Registered Nurse Residency Program are really understanding and give us plenty of training and support. The residency program is one year. We have monthly workshops and complete at least 24 shifts on our unit with a preceptor. I've just finished my orientation and started nursing on my own.
How do you decompress?
TS: Lots of deep breaths. Meditation. Spending time on the stationary bike and with my family. Every other Sunday, the whole family goes to my mom's house to play Pokeno, which is kind of like bingo. We play and eat and laugh.
