By K. Richard Douglas
Sometimes, it requires the perspective of the patient in need of compassion to see the best in the clinician or imaging technician. It can be the soft skills, that are such an important part of their jobs, which can bring a patient the most comfort and emotional help when they need it.
“I am a cancer survivor. I was working in business for well over a decade and was diagnosed in that time with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and later ovarian cancer. Those were some dark and scary times,” says Nicole T. Walton-Trujillo, R.T.(R)(CT), BSRS, MBAH, MOL, ARRT, ASRT, NMSRT, imaging site manager for Cathedral Rock Desert Radiology in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“Yet, what was obvious to me, was that the people in the imaging department were the only people who didn’t look at me with ‘that’ look. You know the one, that ‘Oh you have one foot in the grave’ look. They treated me like a normal person like everyone else and gave me the best level of patient care I had experienced in that time of my life,” she says.
Walton-Trujillo says that experience changed her life. She remembers going home after her 10-year anniversary of being healthy and cancer free and looking at her family and saying it was time for a change.
“I literally took my life like an Etch-A-Sketch and started over. I went back to radiology school. I got my education and started my career in the imaging profession and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I now get to guide the growth of others in leading change and the patient experience,” she adds.
She went back to school and graduated from the PIMA Medical Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“Within a couple of months of getting my initial X-ray license I self-studied to get my CT license and then started my bachelor’s degree program in radiologic sciences, once again with PIMA,” Walton-Trujillo says.
The more specialized focus on education did not stop there.
“I knew that once I had mastered the ability to work full time, raise a family and achieve my bachelor’s; I went ahead and attained my master’s in business administration in health care as well as my master’s in operational leadership/project management,” she says.
Walton-Trujillo’s areas of specialty are CT and dose protocols.
“But, my biggest specialty is patient care,” she says. “Having time for patient care to be done correctly comes from creating an understanding of why we do what we do. Creating an alignment plan that can help create the foundation for change. When the frontline clinician understands why we do what we do, why decisions are made, it is easier to create the buy in for change processes. This is something I excel in,” Walton-Trujillo says.
Surmountable Obstacles
What’s even more remarkable about Walton-Trujillo’s achievements is that she is deaf.
Her drive and tenacity has sidestepped this “disability.”
“The biggest challenge I have faced in my career has nothing to do with my career. I am a deaf woman. I lost my hearing about 25 years ago. I wear bilateral cochlear implants and those allow me to manage through my day,” she says.
“I read lips and work very hard to understand and communicate in the world around me. I was determined that I would not ever be passed up for a job or promotion out of fear that my hearing loss would be a hindrance to any job or task. Through intelligent concessions (like sitting where I can read lips) and making sure I can still function reading lips and being aware of my environment, it has never become an issue in what I do.”
Walton-Trujillo says she is fortunate to have a strong and supportive family.
“I have been blessed to be married for over 17 years to Don — who still makes me laugh every day — and am the proud parent of my son, Mark, who is an Intermediate EMT-C who is working toward his paramedic license and his amazing wife (my new daughter), Jamie, who is a NICU nurse,” she says.
When away from work, she can be found at the dance studio practicing ballroom dancing.
“I know you are thinking, how can you dance if you can’t hear the music? But, I can still feel the base line — it’s amazing. I work out at the studio 3-4 days a week and have competed nationally in the past year. It is the one place that I do not have the luxury of thinking beyond the dancing. It is impossible to worry about the department or the work on my desk or how many emails have piled up since I last checked it,” Walton-Trujillo says.
“My parents are still a significant part of my life and it amazes me that no matter how old I get, I am lucky enough to be able to bounce ideas and situations off them for sound advice,” she adds.
It seems like that advice has paid off as Walton-Trujillo has danced past challenges to make a contribution to the imaging profession.
