Employee Profile - Sally Nehring

Vital Stats

Title:Patient Advocate, Quality Management

Time with PSI:34 years

Family:Met her husband, Steve, when he worked at Brentwood as a recreation therapist. They have four children and six grandchildren

Pets:a yellow lab

Work Philosophy: “I treat patients and their families the way that I would want my family to be treated.” Recent Achievement

Recent Achievement: Shared the honor of being named 2005 Employee of the Year with Trish Temple, a nurse at Brentwood.

A Constant Presence

Sally Nehring has been working at Brentwood Hospital in Shreveport, La., since it first opened in 1971

Sally Nehring didn’t plan on a career in psychiatric healthcare when she accepted a position as ward secretary for Brentwood Hospital in Shreveport, La., in 1971.

“That first job was mainly paperwork,” she recalls. “But I found that I enjoyed talking and listening to the patients and I wanted to do something that would let me spend more time with them directly.”

Brentwood, the first free-standing psychiatric facility in Shreveport, had just opened at that time and there were opportunities for advancement. Nehring moved to a position in the recreation therapy department and in just a few years, she was heading up the activities therapy staff, planning and implementing activities for all of the facility’s patients.

She worked in that department for nearly 25 years, establishing a reputation as someone who always found a way to solve problems, whether major or minor. She developed solid and supportive relationships with patients and their families, and functioned as a patient advocate whenever one was needed. A few years ago that unofficial job became official, and she now spends her days resolving issues of concern to patients and/or their families. “Any time a family member calls, I am available,” Nehring says. “A lot of people don’t understand mental illness or the process of psychiatric care, so I spend a lot of time just educating patients and their loved ones. The most rewarding moments come when the family has found a way to solve their problems or to see them in a different light because of our discussions.”

In addition to her work with patients, Nehring oversees quality management, reviewing patient charts and treatment plans to ensure that all documents are in compliance with regulations.

No matter what the task at hand, Nehring finds her work invigorating.

“I’ve always enjoyed working here,” she says. “When the hospital first opened and I was working at another medical facility, people I knew told me not to bother with a job at this psychiatric facility because it wouldn’t last. She laughs, and says, “That was more than 30 years ago.”