Young nurse leans into leadership, patient care and volunteering

There are loads of reasons to go into nursing. The American Nurses Association’s website lists several – opportunity, flexibility, job security, earnings potential.

But ask any nurse, and you’re likely to hear that they are driven by a desire to help people.

Lauren Williams, who’s 26 and just two years into her career, has a deeply personal reason for having chosen this field.

“My little brother, who’s 17 now, was born with two heart defects,” said Williams, a nurse in the neurology intermediate critical care unit at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte. Jayden had open heart surgery when he was 3, and the family was in and out of hospitals for a couple of years.

Her brother is thriving today. He’s about to graduate from high school and is applying to colleges – USC, Clemson and the one his sister is rooting for, The Citadel.

And Williams is living her dream, caring for some of Presbyterian’s sickest patients.

Williams embraces the responsibility that goes along with that. “You’ve got to be on your toes,” she said. “We treat a lot of patients with traumatic brain injuries, and they can be impulsive. Keeping them safe is our most important job. Working on our floor is hard, but we’ve got a great group of nurses and we have a teamwork mindset. If somebody sees a teammate struggling, they’ll stop to help out.”

Young nurses can be leaders, too

Williams began her nursing education at Midlands Technical College in her hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. While in school, she gained real-world experience by working as a nurse tech at Lexington Medical Center’s OR and cardiac stepdown unit.

She joined Novant Health in 2022. Now, she works full-time and is also a full-time student at the University of South Carolina Upstate working toward her bachelor’s degree in nursing. And she’s not just doing that with the blessing of her manager; she’s doing it because her managers encouraged her to.

“My managers, Jean (Aubin) and Rich (Taylor), support me 100%,” Williams said. “I give them all the credit for encouraging me to go back to school.”

Aubin, who’s been a nurse for 18 years, said, “It’s not just that Rich and I want Lauren to get her bachelor’s degree. We want her involved in lots of aspects of the hospital. She’s already a great nurse. We want to help her become a great leader, as well.”

What makes Williams a great nurse? “She remains calm in stressful situations,” Aubin said. “In the little over two years that she’s been a nurse, she’s shown maturity, grace and leadership. Her patients love her, and her peers love it when she’s team lead. She has an ability to guide younger nurses and is already instrumental in training and precepting nurse residents, nursing students and new nurses.”

Being a newbie hasn’t stopped Williams from taking on leadership roles. She’s lead preceptor – a nursing mentor – who makes sure young nurses have all the guidance they need to be successful. She also chairs the Shared Governance Council committee on her unit, 6-C. It may have a bureaucratic name, but the committee empowers nurses to lead change on the floor, improve patient safety and outcomes, promote quality care and increase nurse retention.

Williams received Novant Health’s prestigious Remarkable Nurse Award in December 2024. It’s an annual honor bestowed on nurses who promote and advance the profession by demonstrating integrity, honesty and accountability while also displaying a commitment to patients, their families and colleagues.

“It’s a one-time award, so Lauren being awarded it so early in her career is quite an accomplishment,” Aubin added.

‘I can relate’

Williams is naturally empathetic. But she has a medical condition she has to manage daily – and that’s made her even more attuned to patients’ health challenges.

At 21 she was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. “When I see patients with diabetes, I feel so empathetic toward them,” she said. “Sometimes they can’t afford their insulin! I can relate. I’m constantly fighting with my insurance company about what they’ll cover.”

Williams relies on an insulin pump and Dexcom, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) she wears on her arm. “The glucose monitor automatically checks my blood sugar levels every five minutes, 24/7,” she said. “The pump will give a loud alert when my blood sugar is low. My teammates will hear it and ask if I’m OK and if I need any help. They’ll encourage me to take a break if they feel I need it and bring me a Sprite or orange juice. They’ll sometimes force me to sit down, because I’ll always try to finish what I’m doing.”

The team has learned a lot about diabetes just from watching Williams manage hers. “Lauren doesn’t purposely sit down and teach people, but we now know what the alerts mean and what needs to be done when we hear them,” Aubin said. “She’s done a great job of educating us.”

Big dreams

Seeing her patients get better is what she loves most about her job.

“I had one patient – an immigrant from Honduras – who’d been in a really bad car accident and had a traumatic brain injury. He was intubated and had every infusion you can think of going in to his IVs. After working with physical therapy and speech pathology, he started walking and talking again. That’s very satisfying to see.”

Williams aspires to be a member of nursing leadership one day – and she seems poised to make that happen. “Ideally, I’d like to be a director of nursing,” she said, “but I’m open to whatever path life brings me.”

A heart for service

Despite being a full-time nurse and full-time student, Williams finds time to volunteer. She serves on her church’s medical team, meaning she’s on standby if someone should need first aid during a service. She’s still involved with a food pantry in her hometown. She helped pack boxes of food donations for Thanksgiving and Christmas back in Columbia.

Williams mentioned volunteering – along with her team – as part of Second Harvest Food Bank’s participation in the 2024 Novant Health Thanksgiving Eve Parade.

Aubin added, “I just have to say that it was Lauren who spearheaded that volunteer opportunity. It was her idea. She was in charge of arranging all of it. We came together as a unit to walk in the parade – and, let me tell you, it was a lot of fun. It was the day before Thanksgiving, and I was a little leery about doing it for that reason. But it ended up being a great event, and that was because of Lauren and her persistence.”

Williams is humble, in addition to all the other traits that make her a nurse leader on the rise. Aubin summed her up by saying, “She’s a bright light that has only just begun to make her mark on the nursing profession and Novant Health.”