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Name:
Paulina
Cockrum, RN, OCN
Title:
Triage Nurse,
CMH/OHSU Cancer
Care Center
Time at CMH:
8 years
Paulina Cockrum
has been a nurse for four decades, caring for patients and
working in administration.
At the CMH/OHSU Cancer Care Center, Cockrum has found a role that
combines her strengths and experience in a way that is both challenging and
rewarding: She now works three days a week at the clinic as a triage nurse.
You could think of Cockrum as the navigator of the cancer care ship, on
which the patient is the passenger and the oncologist is the captain. She
works with the oncologist to help patients successfully navigate their cancer
care plan, she gives nursing advice over the phone, and she teaches patients
how to manage their oral chemotherapy regimen.
“We are with you on this journey,” Cockrum says. She feels that it is a
privilege to be just one of the many caregivers a cancer patient encounters.
Cockrum considers herself a natural introvert in an extrovert’s job. She
brings a sense of mindfulness to her interactions with patients and always
strives to be customer service-oriented. “As a nurse, sometimes you have to
help someone get to another place in their mind,” she says. Her special place
is the Gearhart dunes.
Cockrum lives in Gearhart with her sister, Karen. They purchased a home
together about 14 years ago, when Karen’s husband was diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s disease and Cockrum was raising a teenage son alone, after
the death of her husband. The sisters knew the family support would be
invaluable.
In the years since, Cockrum’s brother-in-law has passed away, and her son,
now 27, has moved to Portland. The arrangement has worked well, and the
two sisters continue to support each other. They swim together regularly.
Cockrum has been active in city government for many years. She served
on the Gearhart Planning Commission from 2008 until last fall, when she was
asked to join the City Council to fill a vacancy. She is also a member of the
Gearhart Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
Being a nurse is more than just a job for Cockrum, which is perhaps why
after 40 years of caring she says, “I’m not quite ready to retire—but I make a
lot of noise about it.”
All-star
Shantija“Tija” LaRue
grew up
in Portland but always had good
memories of being at the coast.
“My dad used to bring me here
as a kid. We used to go to Seaside,”
she says. “So I’ve kind of come back
home.”
LaRue and her husband moved
to the Columbia coast region from
Cottonwood, Idaho, three years ago.
She was drawn by the water, the
trees and the lack of snow. Her goal
was to get a job with CMH.
She first started working in health
care as a housekeeper at St. Mary’s
Hospital in Cottonwood. She had
worked her way up to being a
housekeeping supervisor when she
realized, “I wanted to be involved
more.” So, with the encouragement
of her co-workers, she went back to
40 years of care
Nightlife