A young nurse finds fulfillment – and recognition – caring for older adults

If you were a nurse dedicated to geriatric patients, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better place to work than Hilton Head Island.

“More than one-third of residents will be 65 or older in at least five South Carolina counties by 2040,” states a November 2024 story in The (Charleston) Post & Courier. Beaufort County – where Hilton Head Island is – is among the five expecting a “gray tsunami.”

Those are the patients Chelsea Musser, a registered nurse in Novant Health Hilton Head Medical Center’s progressive care unit, loves caring for. Musser won the coveted Novant Health Daisy Award® for Extraordinary Nurses in December 2024 after receiving nominations from four patients. One called her “caring, compassionate, devoted.”

• The wife of a cardiac ablation patient called her “a ray of sunshine” who “not only took care of [my husband] … but made sure my needs were met.” Once Musser learned the patient would be in the hospital on his birthday, she planned a party – complete with cake, balloons and a card signed by the entire team.
• Another complimented Musser on how well she explained everything to a patient who’d come to the ER with a racing heart.
• And the husband of an 84-year-old cardiac patient wrote, “Chelsea stayed past the 7 p.m. changeover to make sure my wife was settled in for the night. … [She] was back, checking on my wife, early the next morning.”

Inspired by her grandparents

Most new nurses want to work in labor and delivery.

Not Musser. “As a kid, I never wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “I only wanted to be a nurse, especially with the geriatric population.”

Her interest in seniors stems from her close relationship with her grandparents, who helped raise her in Philadelphia. Both were in hospice care in 2016, and they died within three months of each other.

Nurses confront heartache regularly – especially in geriatrics, where not every patient will get well and go home. Resilience is a requirement, and Musser was forced to develop it at an early age.

Her mom, who was addicted to pain killers, was sent to prison when Musser was a freshman in high school. Musser described her mom as her best friend, so being apart was especially tough. That was also the same year both grandparents died.

“It was a crazy year,” Musser said of 2016. That’s when she moved in with her dad and stepmom in Hilton Head. “As soon as I turned 18, I moved out and went to college. I’ve lived on my own ever since. I definitely had to grow up quickly.”

Go where the need is

Nurses are needed everywhere.

And the shortage is a national problem. But it’s critical in South Carolina. The state is expected to need 10,000 more nurses by 2030, said Bob Elliott. And by 2036, the Palmetto State could have the nation’s seventh-largest RN shortage.

That’s why Elliott, a retired Dow Chemical executive, cofounded the nonprofit South Carolina Nurse Retention Initiative (SCNRI) in 2021. The group’s mission is to address the nursing shortage and create a sustainable nurse workforce in Jasper, Hampton and Beaufort counties.

SCNRI offers a financial incentive to nurses to work in the three counties it serves. “We’re thanking them for choosing the profession and for caring for us,” he said, “while helping them overcome some barriers associated with living and working in our area.”

The awards are based on merit, dedication to nursing, financial need and, of course, commitment to the area. They’re unique in that the awards, providing incentives of up to $9,000 (for RNs) and $6,000 (for nurses with associate’s degrees), are given to nurses who have graduated. Twenty to 25 nurses are added to the program each year.

The post-graduation financial support is designed as an incentive to keep good nurses in the region for at least two years. To date, 92% of recipients have stayed for that duration or longer.

Elliott aims to reach aspiring nurses at schools within a 150-mile radius of Hilton Head Island before they graduate. Musser learned about SCNRI while at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. She applied, was accepted and is using the funds to repay her college debt.

“I want to further my education one day, but for now, I’m putting as much of the funds as I can toward my student loan,” she said.

While in college at USCB, Musser also received a scholarship, which was funded by the Hilton Head Hospital Auxiliary. Those funds are raised through a golf tournament Elliott runs.

When money is tight

Paying off a loan is harder when you live in a resort area, where everything – gas, food, insurance, housing – costs more.

Living where she does is “crazy expensive,” Musser said. And she doesn’t even live on the island. She’s one of more than 14,000 area workers who commute each day. “A one-bedroom apartment on the island would cost about $2,500 a month,” she said. “That’s why I have a 35-minute commute.”

But Novant Health is implementing a solution – innovative housing (see the sidebar below) for Hilton Head Island-area healthcare professionals, first responders and other critical service workers earning between 80% and 150% of the area median income.

When Hilton Head Medical Center became part of the Novant Health network in 2024, it set aside nearly 10 acres of land for this initiative. Musser hopes to be a resident once the community opens, projected for 2027.

‘I can empathize’

While pricey, Hilton Head Island is ideal for someone who wants to work with seniors. People 65 and older were the largest-growing segment of the population in the region from 2010 to 2022, Elliott said.

Although Musser is generations younger than most of her patients, she easily relates to them.

“As a nurse, you hear a lot of stories – some of them unimaginable,” she said. “I feel like I understand. I went through something really hard – something I didn't think I’d get through. Even if our situations weren’t the same, I can empathize.”

The most satisfying part of her job is something simple: “Just seeing patients smile.”

Carpenter, Musser’s manager, said she’s a natural at prompting smiles. “Chelsea is always positive and she makes people want to smile right back,” she said.

When leaving the hospital recently after a long work day, Musser heard from a patient that he couldn’t have asked for a better nurse.

“It’s rewarding to know I made someone happy at a time they weren’t feeling their best,” she said.

At Novant Health, we recognize that extraordinary patient care starts with empowering our team members. Through Novant Health Foundation, generous supporters invest in the well-being of our nurses by offering initiatives to combat burnout, emergency support during times of crisis, and professional development opportunities that help them reach new heights in their careers.

This collective generosity empowers Novant Health to enhance patient care, equip our teams with critical resources, and ensure that dedicated caregivers like Chelsea Musser continue to thrive in their calling.

If you’d like to join us in making a difference, visit SupportNovantHealth.org/Give-Where-You-Live to learn more.