Sharon Paul, Public Health Nurse

Connecting with Patients “On a Very Deep Level”

Sharon Paul says she knew from a young age that she wanted to work in the medical field. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and today she works as a VNSNY Nurse Care Coordinator in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, bringing together the various interdisciplinary care team members as needed and keeping the gears running neighborhood-wide. Whenever a newly opened case begins to unfold, Sharon says she finds it “gratifying to bring everything in line for the sake of the patient.” That includes educating patients on how to manage their condition, she notes. “Nothing pleases me more than teaching patients how to manage their disease and, in the end, watching them manage it on their own.”

In addition to providing care coordination and patient support, Sharon spends about half of her time out in the field. “I love the face-to-face interaction with patients,” she says. Her ESPRIT nomination observed that Sharon has served the Harlem and Upper Manhattan communities for nearly 30 years. “She is well-loved in the community, and regularly goes above and beyond what is asked of her,” the nominating letter added. “She treats all of her patients like family, and her knowledge base is extensive. She has been a major factor in keeping her patients out of the hospital and safe within their homes. Every patient that I have with Sharon expresses their gratitude at having her as their nurse. Her clinical skills are sharply honed and she manages to connect with her patients on a very deep level. I am convinced that her caring and support motivates a lot of her patients to take better care of themselves.”