2016 Health Care Champions Nurse: Dusti Everett-Hinkle

There is no typical day in the emergency department at CoxHealth. The south-side location sees over 75,000 patients annually, and Dusti Everett-Hinkle appreciates she gets to take a hands-on leadership approach to nursing. As patient care manager, she wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I’m fortunate to be able to stay active in patient care, working right alongside the extraordinary people who are my colleagues,” she says.

Everett-Hinkle facilitates communication and collaboration in a stressful environment and not only gets to advocate for patients but also for her colleagues. She also monitors patient safety and the quality of care received.

“In this leadership role, she immediately set out to increase the skills and knowledge base of the entire crew,” says John Archer, administrative director for the CoxHealth Emergency Department.

After over nine years in the profession, Everett-Hinkle hasn’t forgotten the most important aspect of her job is caring for people. She has a passion for nursing and has devoted her career to helping people in her community.

Everett-Hinkle began working in the neurotrauma intensive care unit before heading to the emergency department and being promoted to patient care manager.

“Through this work, I have been able to show not only my technical skills, but my ability to critically think and manage very stressful situations,” she says.

Everett-Hinkle particularly enjoys the ability to learn new advancements in emergency medicine that improve the quality of care for patients. She shares her findings with a journal club for Springfield emergency departments, which allows for staff to stay current on evidence-based research and advancements. She also finds it important to share her knowledge through teaching. In the CoxHealth emergency department, she regularly teaches a trauma nurse core course and the emergency nurse pediatric course.

“These two courses are not only utilized by the pediatric unit, EDs and critical care units at CoxHealth, but other facilities in southwest Missouri send their staff to attend these courses as well,” she says.

Everett-Hinkle teaches new graduate intern classes and critical care and emergency department skills at the semiannual skills lab for CoxHealth’s Springfield emergency departments.

She was seeking a way to contribute more to the health care community when the Affordable Care Act became a hot topic. In her research, she noticed the lack of availability to health insurance and  health care in general.

“We are seeing more people being forced to utilize the emergency department for primary care more than ever before, and for a multitude of reasons,” she says.

In light of her discoveries, she currently is pursuing a master’s degree in health care administration at Missouri State University with a certificate in leadership.

Noting she cannot single-handedly solve the nation’s health care and health insurance crisis, she says she can attain the education to better help people.

“Dusti rose amongst her peers by always volunteering to provide care to those most critically ill and injured,” CoxHealth’s Archer says.