The AL DÍA Women of Merit event is a celebration of women who are breaking barriers and emerging in leadership positions across the nation.

Brunilda "Cookie" Sanchez, Clinical Manager at BAYADA Home Health Care, is one of the honorees at the event, in the field of public service.

In the lead-up to the event, AL DÍA asked each of the honorees about their biggest career challenges and accomplishments, gender equality in their industries and their of advice for other women looking to make their way into their particular field of work. 

Here are Brunilda Sanchez's responses:

I must say that for me, there have been two important challenges in my nursing career. First, taking a role as the president of my organization NAHN (National Association of Hispanic Nurses) Philly chapter.  I would have  never imagined having to lead, let alone a group of such amazing powerful individuals. I was blessed to have the support and guidance of many great leaders and members who allowed me to lead with my heart. For that, I will always be grateful.

The second has to be experiencing firsthand what it was working as a nurse during a pandemic. This has been the scariest thing I have ever had to face in my career as a nurse. Not only did the world not understand what was happening and what the outcome was, but the fact that we were not ready or prepared to face and tackle this pandemic made me hopeless. I am grateful that I work with an amazing organization that immediately looked to professionals who were able to keep their nurses safe and help us all learn to navigate this pandemic, provide us with proper PPE to safely care for our client and each other. I must honestly say these are the two most challenging events in my nursing career but with my resilience, courage and all of the support, I was able to accomplish it.

I must say that I am blessed  to work in a gender-equal work environment where all employees feel respected and valued. I believe this creates an overall more positive workplace for all of our  employees. I believe that when you have a gender-diverse environment, your employees will likely notice that their co-workers have talents and strengths they don’t possess themselves. The appreciation for these differences has helped promote an environment of respect among my team. 

For me, nursing has always been my calling. I cannot imagine being anything else in this world. So if nursing is a career that you want to  pursue I encourage you to do it for all the right reasons. Spend time with people who genuinely enjoy and love nursing. Nursing is not an easy career, but it is definitely rewarding! Nursing school is hard! You’re struggling to just make it through the day with your brain intact; no doubt about it, it’s a tough situation. And needless to say, it gets even tougher when you become a nurse! So now is a great time to start getting in the habit of saying “bring it on” instead of stressing out about all the things you need to deal with. If you get yourself accustomed to embracing challenges instead of complaining about them, you’ll be that much more prepared to rock as a working nurse.

“When life puts you in tough situations, don’t say ‘WHY ME?’ Just say ‘TRY ME’.”