Employee Story | Claudia Velez

My name is Claudia Vélez and I am a Nurse Home Visitor. I specifically work for Every Child Succeeds and I visit first time moms at home. We talk about ways to support their babies healthy development and having a healthy relationship with their children. But really we’re helping put families on the path to bright futures. I love what I do. Cincinnati Children's has really supported me through getting my master’s and the training that I needed to be the nurse that I am today. I've been able to get my CLC, so my Certified Lactation Counselor certification, my CPN, so Certified Pediatric Nurse certification, Critical Care Registered Nurse certifications. Cincinnati Children's has always supported my professional development and I'm part of a wonderful team. I am a part of JUNTOS Employee Resource Group. I wanted to serve the Hispanic patients that we see and the Hispanic community. We do a lot of service projects. JUNTOS also puts together the celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month. The National Association of Hispanic Nurses serves to support the Hispanic nursing community and as well as the Spanish speaking communities in the Hispanic communities that we serve. I feel it's important to support everyone and make sure that everyone has access to quality, equitable health care. It makes me feel as if I'm living my purpose. I don't know what it's like to be in their situation, but I was able to see my grandmother seeking services and not be able to communicate. When I'm able to help Spanish speaking families or families from other countries, I can see in their faces that they are happy and relieved to see someone who can communicate with them, and so seeing someone that looks like them and also has that logo, it's wonderful. I love being able to be that support for them and lots of people come up to me. They automatically believe that I will be able to help them. I feel like I'm thriving every day.