Empower to Encourage Outside the Box Ideas – Carter Healthcare

by Vickie Jenkins, Staff Writer

Carter Healthcare is a leading healthcare provider focused on delivering outcomes-based results and the highest quality of Home-Health, Hospice, At-Home Medical Equipment, and Pharmacy Services to thousands of clients in the comfort of their homes. -Carter Healthcare-
Meet Lori Martin, RN, CPOC Director of Nursing at Carter Healthcare at the Corporate office, located in NW Oklahoma City, OK. Lori stays busy as she oversees Home Health and Hospice with many locations. “My typical day starts with phone calls to my team. Since we are not all in the same office, I try to connect with some of my regional directors individually, weekly by phone and then do a group call as well. People can usually deal with issues when they know what is happening at corporate and for me to stay informed of local office issues allows me to provide support when needed. I tend to have numerous meetings and respond to emails, monitor reports and provide guidance and assistance at a global level with regulatory and clinical issues,” Lori said. (story continues below)

“I was originally an accounting major out of high school but soon realized that wasn’t my fit. I transitioned to pre-nursing at OU. After staying home for an extended period of time, I wanted to return to the work force. My first job as a nurse was at OU Medical Center Cardiac ICU, then MICU and later Flex pool to all ICUs and ER.”
As a young child, there were several friends and family members that had passed away. I grew up with older grandparents and also lived next door to my grandmother. “I saw how my parents cared for them in such a loving way. This is when I decided to go to nursing school. With the tremendous love that was shown to their aging parents became the basis for my nursing and has allowed me to be accepting of others as they love and care for their families within their own belief system. It has also empowered me to encourage ideas outside the box,” Lori commented.
Lori graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BBA in Finance in 1988 and returned to nursing school after being a stay-at-home mom for ten years, graduating from Oklahoma City Community College in 2004. Lori started at Carter Healthcare in January 2008. She left in 2014 and they asked her to return in 2019. It was an easy decision for her. Lori grew up in a small, rural town of Jacktown, OK in an area called Rossville. “I attended White Rock School for elementary and there were about one hundred kids from kindergarten to eighth grade and I attended with most of my cousins. I remember when my cousin and I would play nurse or teacher. She dropped out of nursing school when she had to practice NG tubes. Nursing was not her thing but teaching was. My cousin became a Science teacher. I became a nurse. We both got our wish,” she said with a smile. “My family moved to town my eighth grade year and I graduated high school from Harrah, OK.”
Lori believes that all nurses should have the following qualities to be a good nurse; Passion for patients and patient care and professionalism, holding yourself to the professional standards of a nurse and knowledgeable nursing skills.
When I asking Lori to describe herself, she said, “I am strong, a survivor and an overcomer. I consider myself definitely a leader. Stopping is not an option. I believe in ambition, work balance and supporting my family. I am a hard worker, always willing to listen and I emphasize and try to put myself in another person’s situation without judgement. I try to strike a balance between patient need, clinician support along with the business needs. I feel as though my background and experiences have developed me into the person I am today.”
Asking Lori what her biggest reward as a nurse was, she replied, “My. biggest reward as a nurse is knowing that I am making a difference in people’s lives. Being able to help people in a difficult season in life, plus showing love and kindness in the midst of work,” Lori said.
Congratulations to Lori Martin for recently earning the title of Certified Professional Compliance Officer. Summing up Lori’s life in four words, she said, “fun, and always changing.”