WATERVILLE — Jesse Wing witnesses milestones every day.

As a registered nurse at Northern Light Inland Hospital’s birthing center, she helps provide care to new mothers and babies.

“(A typical day) includes anything from supporting a woman in labor through the delivery process, helping them with education afterwards to learn how to care for their babies and prepare them to be going home … to supporting surgical patients or mothers who may have lost their babies, and taking care of sick babies in the nursery,” she said.

A mother of three herself, Wing, 34, can relate to the experiences of her patients, which helps make them feel comfortable and supported.

“People come to us when they’re really vulnerable, because they’re going through something either they haven’t experienced before or they only experience a few times in their lives,” Wing said. “The safety of both themselves and their child — they’re putting their trust in you. It’s a unique situation, and if you recognize that and appreciate that … I think people feel like they’re being taken care of.”

She said it’s important to her to treat everyone who comes into the hospital like family, to listen to them and to involve them in their own health care decisions.

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“Those are the morals that we live by here, and everything else comes from that,” Wing said. “That’s your foundation.”

It is this outlook that has helped Wing earn the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce’s Customer Service Stardom Award, which she is scheduled to receive April 25 at its banquet at Enchanted Gables at Medicine Bend Stables in Oakland.

“Jesse stands out because she’s a natural leader,” said Courtney Cook, director of the hospital’s birthing center. “She’s modest. She doesn’t acknowledge her strengths frequently, but she knows what resources are needed in certain situations … and gets everyone in the room seamlessly. She naturally puts herself in patients’ shoes … and treats them like family. She wants to provide the best experience possible.”

One of 14 full-time nurses on the floor, Wing is among the most experienced, with a level three certification — the highest offered by the hospital — and two internal accolades for providing superior care. Between her daily responsibilities, she takes time to mentor students from the University of Maine at Augusta as a clinical instructor for nursing candidates interested in obstetrics. Outside of the hospital, she also helps with educational events such as the Inland Family Fun series, which promotes free or low-cost wellness-based activities in the Waterville area.

“People really respect and look up to her,” Cook noted. “She has a positive spin on things … and she’s always willing to lend a hand.”

Wing did not always want to be a nurse. After graduating from the University of Maine, in Orono, as a biology major, she held a number of jobs with employers including a tissue culture laboratory and, ironically, the state’s Department of Labor. She said that she realized her calling when her first child was born 12 years ago. She worked hard, on an accelerated 15-month schedule, to earn her nursing degree from the University of Southern Maine.

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“Having my own children, I recognized how important (the job of a nurse) was, … what an impact it had and what an opportunity it was to really work in the community and to do a job that mattered,” she said, later adding, “I wanted … my kids to see me going to work and not begrudgingly leaving the house. I wanted them to look at Mom and see she’s proud of what she’s doing, what she’s doing matters, and to know that they can do the same with their life.”

Originally from New Vineyard, Wing now lives in Sidney with her husband, Travis, and three children, Addison, Nicholas and Lucas. She has worked at Northern Light Inland Hospital for six years.

 

Meg Robbins — 861-9239

mrobbins@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @megrobbins


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