Kristyn Lutecki was promoted to Clinical Nursing Supervisor at Geisinger Family Practice in Kingston in February.
The position already gave Lutecki, a 31-year-old, plenty of responsibility. She is in charge of all nursing staff at the facility, including their hiring, training and scheduling.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit the region and added a few more responsibilities to her duties.
“I am responsible to ensure that the facility is adapting to all guidelines to meet organization standards,” she said.
That means taking numerous precautions to protect both the patients who visit the facility and the medical staff that works there.
“We are a ‘well site,’” Lutecki said, meaning the facility does not treat coronavirus patients. “We try not to bring in anyone with fevers or respiratory infections.”
It was because of her work at the Geisinger Family Practice that Lutecki was selected to be honored by the Times Leader Media Group during Nurses Month. She was nominated by Times Leader readers and chosen from a field of more than 500 nominated nurses.
Those that nominated Lutecki had plenty of praise for her. A sampling of the comments on the nominating forms reads:
• “She is hard-working, caring nurse!”
• “Kristyn is very loving and dedicated to patients. She goes above and beyond her duties.”
• “Always caring and kind”
• “She has been an inspiration through the pandemic. Such a positive attitude and keeps us all motivated on the front lines.”
• “She selfishly goes to work each morning without worrying about herself.”
While she is still at the Geisinger Family Practice, the promotion to nursing supervisor has meant some changes to Lutecki’s day-to-day job.
“I miss having more interaction with the patients. You learn a lot about the patients through those interactions,” she said. “But I enjoy helping our staff build those relationships with our patients.”
Lutecki graduated from the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center nursing program in 2016. She lives in Nanticoke and has three children – 13-year-old Keayrah and 7-year-old twins Karson and Keegan.
She added that one of her favorite things about being a medical professional is being able to help her family and friends.
“The skills I’ve learned as a nurse have translated to my personal life,” she said.
