What it's like to be a nurse in theranostics and clinical trials

In this special National Nurses Month episode, we are joined by two BAMF Health nursing leaders: Christina DeVries, BSN, RN and Clay McNamara, BSN, RN.

Together, they share what it’s like to help build one of the nation’s first comprehensive theranostics centers from the ground up, how nursing at BAMF differs from traditional healthcare environments, and why patient advocacy remains at the center of everything they do.
You’ll also hear incredible patient stories—involving hallway concerts and potatoes—and learn how BAMF nurses are helping shape the future of personalized medicine.

Whether you’re a nurse, healthcare professional, student, or patient, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the people helping drive innovation in cancer care and beyond.

00:40 Meet Christina DeVries & Clay McNamara
01:03 What Inspired Christina to Become a Nurse
02:20 Clay’s Path Into Nursing & Travel Nursing Experience
04:18 What They Love Most About Nursing
05:46 Building BAMF Health From the Beginning
09:22 Patient Advocacy & Nurse Navigation at BAMF
10:56 Opening BAMF’s Doors for the First Time
12:36 Theranostics Nursing vs Traditional Oncology Nursing
14:57 Radiation Safety & Working Around Radiopharmaceuticals
17:51 The Most Rewarding & Challenging Parts of Nursing
20:09 What People Don’t Understand About Nursing
23:13 Favorite Patient Stories at BAMF
26:48 What BAMF Looks for in Nurses
30:43 Final Thoughts & Celebrating Nurses Month

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Dr. Brandon Mancini
Christine VanTimmeren

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Transcript

Christine VanTimmeren 0:05

Welcome to the BAMF Health Podcast. So if I were to ask you, what healthcare professional do you think is the heart and the soul of a healthcare center or a healthcare system, who would you say? My guess is you would probably say the nurses are. Well, it just so happens we're in the month of May, and month is National Nurses Month. And with me today, I have two incredible nurses from BAMF Health. I have Christina DeVries and I have Clay McNamara. Thank you both of you for coming on the BAMF Health Podcast. Yeah, happy to be here.

Clay McNamara 0:39

So excited.

Christine VanTimmeren 0:40

So you both are, you manage the nurses in our therapy clinic, and you're in charge of our clinical trials, Clay. So you both are in more leadership roles at this point, but you are both nurses. You're both RNs. So give us an idea of what led you to nursing in the first place. How did you get interested in it? Christina, maybe we'll start with you.

Christina DeVries 1:02

Great question. Well, I um always enjoyed sciences and so really loved that portion of school as long as I can remember. I also had um the experience when I was in high school of working with a family as kind of their babysitter slash nanny, taking care of their kids. And the mom was a nurse who worked nights. So she would work nights, pick me up on her way home from work, chat to me about her shift, and then I'd watch the kids while she slept. So I got like this real life kind of interactive discussion with a nurse. Um, and but still thought I was always going to be a teacher because that's what everyone in my family really did. Um, and then a high school teacher pulled me aside and said, I really think you need to consider a career in nursing, which really shifted my mindset and made me start thinking about that and led me down that path. So it was really cool to have someone step into that and really tell me, like, I see this in you. And then also have had the experience of knowing a little bit of what that meant. And you get to be an educator in nursing all the time. So I felt like, oh, this is actually doing what I thought I might want to do along with the added like nursing slash science portion of it.

Christine VanTimmeren 2:11

So you kind of have the best of both worlds there a little bit.

Christina DeVries 2:15

Still say I would be a teacher in a lot of ways. Lots of education. That's great. How about you, Clay?

Clay McNamara 2:20

I would say similar. I mean, I never, when I was younger, never thought like, oh, nursing. Um, and I don't have like a family of nurses. I feel like a lot of nurses are like, oh, my mom was a nurse, my grandma was a nurse. But my mom was the one that was like, you should be a nurse. And I'm like, a nurse, you know, and then it kind of just stuck. There was actually this like commercial that was always on when I was younger. It I don't I won't I don't even know what company maybe it was for, but it was this male nurse like singing to like a pediatric, probably oncology patient, like while giving them an injection. And my mom was like, that could be you. And I'm like, okay, I guess that could be me. And then, you know, I loved sciences. I actually was in an EMT course, uh, like, you know, like EMT baby paramedic. Um, and I thought maybe that was the path. So I was thinking emergency nursing. Um, and I ended up in oncology, but yeah, I'm happy I definitely went this route.

Christine VanTimmeren 3:13

Now you did a lot of travel nursing as well. I mean, what what's that like when you're going from place to place as a nurse?

Clay McNamara 3:21

Yeah, I mean, that was super exciting. So I had been a nurse for a few years before that. So I felt like I had kind of my core competencies in oncology. Um, but you know, actually when I traveled, it was during the pandemic. So um my travel nursing was not focused on oncology anymore. It was just wherever they needed you, and you know, whatever type of floor needed the support that night. So a lot of like overflow COVID units, a lot of just kind of filling in and, you know, all different types of fields. But um I think the people you meet and like those core competencies really are the same everywhere you go. But it's interesting to kind of just see like the different cultural aspects that you know different patients have and different nurses bring into the care depending on kind of where you're in the country. So it was super fun to kind of experience outside of West Michigan what the nursing world looks like and see the consistencies that kind of drag through that.

Christine VanTimmeren 4:18

So I feel like part of Nurses Month, I think is letting people know about the profession, why it's a good profession to go into, what makes it so great. So when you guys think about what you love about being a nurse, what are sort of the core things that you look forward to and and kind of keep you going, what would you say those are?

Christina DeVries 4:37

I would say it lands with the people. And that is like the people. Exactly. It's not just the patients, it's the people we work with, it's the patients we care for, it's the families of the patients we care for, it's the team members outside of maybe the unit or the clinic you're working in that you're collaborating with to create that great patient care for your patient in every aspect. Um, but that's what lands it for me is like helping to care for the people and engage with the people and get to know people and become part of their journey almost in a way.

Clay McNamara 5:09

And you know, uh it's a probably just a small little dot on their radar, but they feel that impact depending on the level of involvement and attention you can provide to them. So it's just fun to be part of that story and that journey, even though you know we never want that part of someone's life while they're hospitalized or going through cancer, whatever it is, to become their story, to be able to help them through that journey is important. And also try to keep the patient, I'm sorry, the person at the center of that, not making them feel like a patient, right? What are your interests? What gives you joy, those types of things.

Christine VanTimmeren 5:45

So both of you had unique experiences at BAMF. So BAMF is one of the first Theranostics centers, period, across the country. And so operating a Theranostics Center, being one of the first nurses and team members at BAMF was a really interesting experience. So those had to be fascinating days at the beginning when we're opening the clinic and nobody knows what they're doing. This has never been done before. What was that like? Take us back there.

Christina DeVries 6:17

Yeah, definitely interesting, fascinating, exciting.

Clay McNamara 6:21

Probably start right because I have a lot more experience than you starting like a week ahead of you. Right.

Christina DeVries 6:27

One whole week of seniority. And you're a week longer though. I'll get into that.

Clay McNamara 6:33

No, no. I mean, coming in, we had a great uh couple nurses already there, um, Brandy and Cathy, who just really helped kind of get things going off the ground. And coming in, even though they were like, we still don't know what's going on, we're so glad to have you and have more minds kind of meshed together to figure this out. It was great not to have to like start from square one, even though there was so much that we were still figuring out and so many things to kind of do. So that first week there, it was, you know, me and Cathy sitting in a room together, and she's like, This is what I've been doing, and I think this is what you should be doing. And I was like, okay, yeah, like I'll do that. And then, you know, a week later when Christina joined and she kind of looked at me like, I'm like, yeah, yep, we're just figuring it out one day at a time. Like it's it's gonna be fine. We'll figure it out. Yeah. There's you know, there's not a charting system yet, but like there's paper. We know how to do it.

Christina DeVries 7:33

So yeah, it was definitely like we we talk about it often, and it um I would say created like a nice bond too between that group of people because you're working through so many things that even in like my healthcare experience, I've never done because in a startup company, a young company, it's a whole different ball game where you get to be involved in a lot more, but you also have limited resources. Like we didn't have the teams we have now. So we were doing all of the things. So we it was like jump in, like you know, you jump right in, you're answering the phone the first day or talking to patients, you're helping them with anything you can help, and you're learning as you go. And really, I would say something I incorporate into my nursing practices always is the honest truth of them to be like, hold on a minute, let me find someone who has that answer for you. And that was what we did, and we worked together and we had our resources. And I do say, like, I was so glad Clay was there for a week earlier because I was like, I have two people who can help me because one person's always answering the phone.

Clay McNamara 8:32

I will say, part yeah, part of the travel nursing thing, you gotta learn really quick and you just roll with the flow. So, like, I was often like orienting new travelers within a week. So I'm like, we got this, you know.

Christina DeVries 8:43

Well, and when you come in with that mindset of like I'm jumping in and I'm doing, that for me is also the best way to learn.

Clay McNamara 8:48

Right.

Christina DeVries 8:48

So, like watching you and sitting and reading things doesn't make as much of an impact as jumping in and doing it. So to jump in from day one and we were doing all of the things like the auths for the patients, collecting the records, getting them set up with an appointment, calling their other offices, answering all their questions, like um, and it was a really unique experience to have to do all of that and then see from like looking back to right now how far we've evolved and like the teams we do have in place and the processes we have now and the support that creates. Um, it's been really cool.

Clay McNamara 9:22

I think it allowed us to create maybe some of the pillars that still are definitely standard for what we do in nursing at BAMF, which is really just be like the best patient advocate we can. And like just when you start with that team of, you know, just a few nurses and not maybe as many of the other roles that support nursing, you're doing and wearing all those hats, like Christina said, but you really become the patient's like handhold not to say caretaker, but like really their guide of all the steps, and they just get to know you. And it's I I don't know, I feel like any nurse and staff member we've brought on since then, it's just been like this is what we do at BAMF. We put that extra 15 minutes all the time to make the difference for the patient.

Christina DeVries 10:05

So and I would say like we truly exemplify like what a nurse navigator does because you are helping the patients navigate the healthcare system, not just within your office. But like Clay said, like we're taking those extra steps to really say, like, you need help coordinating this appointment to line up with ours. Like, can we help make that phone call for you? Or can we help with some additional insurance paperwork or something? Because that stuff is so hard when you're a patient in the healthcare system and trying to navigate all of that. So, and that nurse navigator role wasn't something that was around always before then, too. So people often were saying to me, like, what is a nurse navigator? Like, what does that person do? And then you could truly explain, like, here's how we help these patients in their appointments here, and then to navigate everything they need from there and beyond.

Christine VanTimmeren 10:56

In that moment when we finally opened the doors and were effectively the only company in the area doing what we're doing, did you feel the weight of that or how meaningful or what a big milestone it was to be the first to be offering that? Like, did you feel that at all?

Christina DeVries 11:18

It's a great question. Um, we had our grand opening the week I started. So that talk about jumping in. Like really jumping in. I remember getting there and they're like, Can you stay late on our grand opening and tour everyone? And I was like, sure can. So we it was a again, like the experience was amazing and to see the community come together. And so I would say, like, I didn't feel it as a weight, but more of like an excitement of a path ahead. And like being able to offer that to patients and opening up this ability to provide for them something that necessarily wasn't necessarily readily available.

Clay McNamara 11:55

Yeah.

Christina DeVries 11:56

So more of an excitement, I would say.

Clay McNamara 12:14

What do you guys do? Like, I still couldn't fully answer it, but I was like, I don't know, but it's gonna be really cool. And I mean, obviously that's turned out to be true. So um, yeah, I think we're still trying to understand the scope of like what all can BAMF be? And it's so exciting to just watch how we've grown and shaped since that we can all of it.

Christine VanTimmeren 12:36

So speaking of this medicine Theranostics, it it still is emerging. I feel like in a lot of ways it's still new-ish, people haven't heard of it. Is it different from working in general oncology, or are the the principles generally the same when you're you're treating these patients?

Christina DeVries 12:56

Um my oncology experience was mainly pediatrics from my work. I would say personal experience. I definitely had adult oncology, like experiences with family members and things. Um the basics I would say are the same, like your labs, you know how you're monitoring, you know the effects these treatments are having. So, like I had a good core knowledge of what patients may have been through before they came to us because we weren't the first line of treatment and we aren't the first line of treatment. And so, like knowing that core knowledge of oncology is very similar. But one of the things that's been unique in Theranostics is the collaboration of the nuclear medicine team and the imaging team with the nursing.

Clay McNamara 13:35

Yes.

Christina DeVries 13:36

I can't say in my oncology experience before, I worked so closely with those teams, which just brings a lot of different aspects of care. And I've learned a ton from them, and having that collaboration has been very different.

Clay McNamara 13:49

Yeah, I mean, certainly BAMF would not be BAMF without nuclear medicine, particularly their nuclear medicine technologists and all the expertise that they bring to the table when it comes to radiation, radiation safety, and just specifically the radioligand therapies, the PET tracers. So um, I mean, that's been huge. And I think with Theranostics, like at BAMF, it's been heavily focused on oncology right now, but like Theranostics expands many different care areas, neurology, cardiology, rheumatology, like so it's it's much more than just oncology, too, which is cool. And something like from coming from a background of oncology, it's been exciting to watch as we are working with different patient populations who need treatment and care, just like oncology patients do. And it's been fun to be able to kind of experience that.

Christina DeVries 14:41

Well, and like Clay was saying earlier, like we don't know where we're gonna end up with everything because targeted treatments continue to evolve and we get more information and we have more education about them and we can offer them to patients. So we are not simply oncology.

Christine VanTimmeren 14:57

We are beyond that for anything that's going to be a targeted treatment, which is so speaking of that integration then with nuclear medicine, it's it's not only like a partnership because of what we do, but you're physically close. Our facility puts everything in close proximity, which means there is some level of exposure. So if there are nurses out there wondering, how the heck does that work? How do you stay safe when you're exposed to radioactivity? What are the ways that as nurses you protect yourselves, as a team you protect yourselves and the patients? Sure.

Clay McNamara 15:32

What's the saying Alara?

Christina DeVries 15:34

Yes.

Clay McNamara 15:34

Let's see if I can get this right or our RSO is gonna be uh real disappointed in me. As low as reasonably achievable. Got it. Time distance shielding. Yeah. I think I've got all the keywords. You hear that, Colten?

Christina DeVries 15:50

Uh yeah, actually, we were just talking to our radiation safety officer yesterday with new team members who have joined. Right. And he talked about Alara. And it's really that what Clay was saying, maintaining distance. So we always ask people to stay, if you can, three feet away from the patients when they're radioactive. And then um uh increasing the time, or sorry, decreasing the time you're close to the patient, increasing the time you're not close to the patient. So if you do have to step in and care for them, you step in, you do what you need to do, and you step out and you maintain that three feet. And then there's shielding as well, which would be where the nuclear medicine team really comes in. Um, and they are having shielding in between them and the doses to reduce that exposure. But from nursing perspective, it's really try to stay your three feet of distance. So when you're talking to a patient, we're not right up next to them always, unless you have to do hands-on care, then you're next to them. But you step back and we have a fantastic radiation safety officer and our team. So huge shout out to Colten and everybody for monitoring all of that for us and determining like who from our staff needs to have like a radiation safety badge on to ensure that we're monitoring very closely the exposure they have. Um, so that was a, I would say, a big learning curve for me as a nurse.

Clay McNamara 17:03

Yeah, I mean, definitely, I mean, working with chemotherapies, immunotherapies, we definitely learn how to be safe with those, you know, how we're supposed to um keep patients safe. So you have some of that education from the background on oncology that you can take into the nuclear medicine radiation realm. So I think as part of keeping us safe, it's also keeping the patient safe and the family members safe. And as long as they're following what we're teaching and training them, that helps keep our staff members safe in addition to, you know, their family and the community. So any patient getting any sort of dose there is getting very specific, specific instructions based on the type of radiation they're getting, the dose of radiation they're getting, and like how long we would expect that to be in their system.

Christine VanTimmeren 17:51

All really interesting elements of this field of medicine that make it really unique. Um, when you think about just the the day-to-day and and what you do as nurses, you all do a lot and it's busy and it's challenging, but it's also incredibly rewarding. So when you think of maybe what a typical good day looks like and maybe what a more challenging day looks like, what would you say?

Christina DeVries 18:19

Um also good questions. And I think when I was reflecting kind of on my past as a nurse, sometimes the challenging days are also the best days and the worst all in one. Like it's really hard to separate them out because when you're in the moment of something very challenging, whether it's a patient who has really high emergent, urgent needs, or whether it's like collaborating with teams and you can't get on the same page because there's something else urgent happening that someone else is running off to, or you're, you know, frustrated because you're like, I just don't have the resource I need right this moment, and I'll figure that out. But you also can reflect on that and be like, look at how everyone came together. Like I was in this moment of feeling this way, and all of these people stepped in to help me. And while it was complicated and challenging and stressful, I can also reflect back on look at this team collaboration we had, look at the growth I've found in myself from this, look at the growth we've had in our team and really focus on that. And so I can't separate those out often.

Clay McNamara 19:23

Yeah. I think those challenging days are the days where you really get to bring the reasons you wanted to be a nurse out, you know, empathy, critical thinking, compassion. It's just like even when you're like maxed and you know, to the wall the whole day of like, you know, making sure you get things done for the patient. Like, I think something as small as the patient being like, thank you so much, or just that acknowledgement. I mean, that can take like a, oh my god, this day's been exhausting. To just hear them say, like, you really made this impact on me, or this impact on my family member that completely can shift how challenging that day was to be like, wow, I'm so glad I got to have that experience with that patient, that family.

Christine VanTimmeren 20:09

So hopefully we're worth it, I guess. Yeah, hopefully we've convinced everyone that it's worth it. And it definitely people are considering a career as a nurse, they're going, wow, this sounds really, really incredible. Is there elements of nursing that you feel like aren't talked about enough that you would say, oh my gosh, people don't talk about this aspect of it enough, but it's it's a really incredible benefit to this profession?

Clay McNamara 20:33

I I did just mention like the critical thinking. And I think, you know, maybe it's uh how media has portrayed some nursing in the past. I think that's definitely changed as of you know the recent years. But like, you know, we are doing a lot more than just following a written order from a doctor. We're not just like checking off tasks and completing things. It's each of yeah, we do have tasks that we need to complete, but each of those comes with so much thought, knowledge, understanding where you're having to say, like, is this the right thing to do? Not to say I'm questioning my doctors, but like at the same point, the nurse is that last line of defense. And sometimes you do have to question people, and that's not because you don't trust a doctor, but it's also like people make mistakes, just like nurses can make mistakes, so can other people, whether that be pharmacy, a doctor, you know. So we're all just kind of, I don't know, really having to think hard about like how do we keep this patient safe? How do we do the right thing? So, you know, it's not let me check off these tasks easily and just kind of get through the day.

Christina DeVries 21:33

Well, and sometimes we're the first person seeing the patient, and our responsibility is assessing that patient and trying to determine what is going on and then reiterate that back to our providers to say, here's what I see, this, this, and this. And while you're doing that, you're critically thinking of the patient gives me this response. What do I need to follow up with to make sure I've covered all the bases of what that could be? So, like if you tell me you have a headache, well, I need to consider what treatment have you received? Could that be a major side effect? What else could come with it? How do we determine if your headache is related to this treatment or something else? And then we have to report that back to the provider and say, they have a headache. And we don't just end there. We need to say, and I've already asked this and this, and we've gone through this and give them all the information. So the provider can make the decision without sending us back in the room too many times to ask more questions where we're like, okay, shoot, we didn't ask that part. So we're trying to preemptively think too in the way that they're critically thinking to figure out what do I need to anticipate? They're going to ask me and look at this patient as a whole, not just that one symptom or that one concern that's going on.

Christine VanTimmeren 22:39

Yeah, there's no autopilot. Right. Because if you're on autopilot, you're going to miss the little things that they say that trigger your brain to go, they just said this. So that means X, Y, Z.

Christina DeVries 22:50

And every patient is different. And that's, I think, part of the uniqueness of being a nurse is like you always get to experience different people, which is so fun and exciting. And it also keeps your mind like very on top of things because it's not just textbook. If this patient presents with this diagnosis, here's what they'll look like. It doesn't work.

Clay McNamara 23:09

No two patients are the same. Exactly. Exactly.

Christine VanTimmeren 23:12

Okay. So speaking of those patient stories, because you guys have incredible stories not only throughout your career, but at BAMF too. So we were talking about these earlier. What are some of your favorite stories with patients? Because yeah, it isn't just providing the care. Right. It's the fun moments, the interactions with people.

Christina DeVries 23:31

Right. Well, if anyone's been on our uh social media sites, you'll see we do have patients who have um brought in some instruments and done some concerts for us, which is super fun. We really love when patients get involved in that way. I think so.

Christine VanTimmeren 23:47

Or maybe just instruments that we can pull out at any moment. Yeah, yeah. All right. I love it. I got that.

Clay McNamara 23:54

I'll be vocals. I'd like to see it.

Christina DeVries 23:57

Please, please.

unknown 23:58

You said it.

Clay McNamara 23:59

I think that's actually Brandon. I'm pretty sure he sang vocals at one moment.

Christina DeVries 24:04

Um so I remember the very first patient at BAMF who brought in their instrument. We had this patient, very, very sweet man who um had was telling us like his story, and he was blind and had been dealing with this the majority of his life, I don't think his whole life, um, and had met his sweetheart at an older age living in the same like apartment complex. And he had written a song about her and when they had met and like their date over a spaghetti dinner. And we were like, we want to hear your song. Would you sing for us? And he asked if he could bring his guitar in and then brought his guitar and did a whole little like concert in his room for us, um, with his significant other there just beaming in the corner. And it was just one of those moments where you realize like taking that extra moment to hear the story and to say, Can you tell me more? Can you show me? Like creates a totally different bond and the lasting memory. And so that is one of our favorites. And look where it's brought us like all of these patients who now are really showing us all of their talents and interests, and we love it. It's so fun. It is.

Clay McNamara 25:09

We love our lobby concerts. Yes. And I our patients do so. Yeah, I mean, I wish I had half the talent musically that these patients bring. Um I have not musical, but another patient story that you know sticks with me. This was a patient that we had on multiple clinical trials. Uh, we were very close with him, his wife, as you know, a clinic as a whole, and they made very close relationships with all of us. Um, and one of the clinical trials this patient was on required a lot of spec scans. A spec scan is a type of nuclear medicine imaging that helps us see how organs are functioning with different radio tracers. So uh considering that it was called SPECT/CT, uh, the patient two times had uh made little jokes. So uh, you know, the NMTs or the nuclear medicine technologists always make the patients empty their pockets before the scan. That way they don't have any keys or change or anything that may affect the image itself. And this time the patient pulled a potato out of his pocket, and he go, and he goes, Will you will you will you take my SPECTator? And they're like, What? He's like, my SPECTator. So obviously, you know, the potato being the the butt of the joke there, we all got a good laugh out of that. And then a few weeks later, he took a another level and brought in a Mr. Potato Head that was all decorated with his little picture of a spect machine next to it, and that is still sitting uh with our clinical trial team as our spectator. So I mean it's just the little things like that that we think.

Christine VanTimmeren 26:48

Those are so fun. Those are so fun. And I mean, yeah, it as a nurse, you get to see the the best and the worst a lot of times. Um, but man, those fun moments and those fun things are are just really special. Um we have a few more minutes. Let's sell the idea of nursing again if we haven't already. If you're not convinced by now, geez, I don't know what you're doing. Um so if we're looking to, we're always looking to build our team and hire nurses. So what are we specifically looking for? What is it we're looking for in a research nurse? Or you're looking for in a Theranostics Infusion nurse. Sure, sure.

Clay McNamara 27:32

Um yeah, I'll kick it off. I mean, with research nursing, obviously, if you've been a research nurse before and you know some of the cores, that's great. But that is certainly not like the main thing I'm looking for. Other things we like oncology experience. Um, but once again, we're not just oncology and that's not all we focus on. So really breaking it outside of, you know, what does your resume show? It's like your ability to show like empathy and critical thinking and a desire to be innovative and kind of at that front of medicine of like what's next. I've seen X, Y, and Z maybe not do what we would have hoped for patients. I want to be part of figuring out how we can further advance care and medicine as a whole. So I think just like that like go-getter attitude of like, I'm ready to do something different, something fun, I'm excited about what you guys are doing here. Maybe I don't understand it, but like I want to learn it. I think that just like excitement, engagement.

Christina DeVries 28:31

Mm-hmm. For sure. And I would add on to that too, from the clinic perspective. I mean, a lot of that's really still in line, minus the clinical trials experience. You don't have to have it. Um, it's great to have because we interact with those clinical trials patients every time they're getting treatment. Um, and sometimes for their other appointments coming in. So my team as the clinic nurses and fusion nurses work with those patients as well. But we um uh also are looking for if you have an oncology background, that's helpful. But like we talked about, like it's not just oncology. So it's a background in nursing and having some information and already like a solid base of that, but also um being comfortable working in an area where you don't have the same resources you do in a full-fledged hospital system because we are in a newer company working outside of the hospital system. And so again, we're working with our team really closely to help fill in those gaps with each other. And so being willing to even just be someone who will provide positive, constructive feedback and solutions and suggestions for solutions is a huge part of what we do in our daily activity because we're we have workflows and we have guidelines and standards set in place, but we are continually adding new things and we're shifting and we're changing. And so, for someone who's comfortable in that environment to say, like, I'm okay working in this environment where we continue to shift and change and grow. And I'm comfortable also saying I'm gonna contribute to that and give you the feedback in a way that is helpful to continue to benefit our patients, our team, and our company as a whole. So it's a very unique place to be working as a nurse. So uh you, you know, you get to experience things that you wouldn't necessarily elsewhere, and you get asked to be involved in different areas and aspects of healthcare that you wouldn't necessarily have the opportunity to do anywhere else.

Clay McNamara 30:20

Yeah, that drive to be a part of the solution, not just have someone solve the problem for you, but like be engaged and wanting to like better, first of all, the company, but make it better for our patients is so important. And we love to see that. And like that's something that I think a lot of nurses want to do, and maybe in the health system they're in, they don't maybe have as much opportunity to do.

Christine VanTimmeren 30:43

Right. I think that's across the board at BAMF. You come to BAMF and you have an opportunity to do things and be a part of things within your scope that you wouldn't other places, just because we are growing and learning and this field of medicine is emerging and changing. So it's an awesome thing to be a part of. Definitely. All right. Well, thanks, guys. Yeah, I appreciate it. And uh happy nurses month to all of the nurses out there. If you want to learn more about our nurses, there's an article on our website that's going to feature all of our nurses so you can learn a little bit more about what led all of them to nursing and to BAMF. So thanks again, guys. I appreciate it. Thanks for having us.

Clay McNamara 31:25

Thank you.

Christine VanTimmeren 31:26

All right, and we'll see you next time.