Name: ALAN LEETH, RN

Current Employment: INOVA/Fair Oaks Hospitall

Nursing Specialty: Currently working in PACU, worked 8 yrs. in critical care, 3 yrs. Spinal/neuro rehabilitation

Hometown: Grew up in Northern Virginia (moved to Norfolk, VA & Denver, CO., but always seemed to get pulled back to Fairfax County)

Favorite Color: Blue/Gray (sort of a "northern confederate" at heart)

Favorite Movie: "Return of the King" (I was a Tolkien since "the Hobbit" book first came out!")

Favorite Sport: Baseball (I love to coach my youngest son)

Favorite Team: Football: Redskins Baseball: Red Sox

Nursing Education: Northern Virginia Community College - ADN (1993)
George Mason University - BSN (1996)

Who was your most memorable patient?
"Mr. S" who was a newly ventilated quadriplegic critical care patient. Both he and his wife were very frightened and anxious after his injury and she was staying at his bedside day and night. I had taken care of him for several nightshifts and developed a caring trust with both him and his wife. My proudest career moment was the night that his exhausted wife told my patient that she felt she could go home and sleep (for the first time) because "Alan is here to take care of you".

Why would you encourage other men to choose nursing as a career?
I am constantly trying to recruit males of all ages to consider the many rewards that nursing has to offer. First, as a minority, men are very well received by their peers and the public in the nursing profession. Also, the diversity of nursing specialties can allow a person to stay in the same career but change the facets of care delivery whenever needed. The nursing shortage has brought about excellent job & salary opportunities nationwide. Lastly, nursing is a great way to integrate really caring for people and working with state- of-the-art technologies.

What's the most challenging thing about being a nurse?
For me the biggest challenge is balancing the time that I want to spend at the patient's bedside with the time I need to spend documenting my work. I would much rather concentrate on just caring for each individual, but everything done must be charted on to properly communicate to other healthcare professionals.