Side by Side in the Moments That Matter

In the oper­at­ing room at QMG’s Ambu­la­to­ry Surgery Cen­ter, team­work is everything.

For Andrew and Shel­by H., that team­work doesn’t end when the work­day does. As hus­band and wife, and fel­low reg­is­tered nurs­es at the Surgery Cen­ter, they share not only a pro­fes­sion, but a deep under­stand­ing of what it means to show up for oth­ers when it mat­ters most.

Their jour­ney togeth­er began long before they worked side by side car­ing for patients.

Where It Started

Andrew and Shel­by met while attend­ing nurs­ing school.

“I was work­ing the front desk and Shel­by was a peer tutor,” Andrew said. ​“I would ask her for help with study guides, and she would always help me… a lot.”

Shel­by described Andrew as ​“very per­sis­tent in obtain­ing mul­ti­ple study guides.”

Those ear­ly study ses­sions laid the foun­da­tion for both a shared career and a shared life.

Find­ing a Calling

For Andrew, nurs­ing felt like a nat­ur­al fit from the beginning.

“What drew me to nurs­ing was help­ing oth­ers,” he said. ​“I have always want­ed to be in a role where I could make a dif­fer­ence in people’s lives and be there for them dur­ing the impor­tant moments.”

Shelby’s path to nurs­ing took on deep­er mean­ing through per­son­al experience.

“At first, my deci­sion to become a nurse was entire­ly prac­ti­cal — the job secu­ri­ty, the abil­i­ty to spe­cial­ize in dif­fer­ent areas of nurs­ing, and the mul­ti­ple set­tings I could work,” she said. ​“After being diag­nosed with leukemia and the sub­se­quent unfor­tu­nate side effects that led to hav­ing a heart trans­plant, I real­ized how impact­ful nurs­ing could be. We have the capa­bil­i­ty to pos­i­tive­ly influ­ence lives and pro­vide high-qual­i­ty care.”

Her per­son­al health jour­ney deep­ened her under­stand­ing of the impact com­pas­sion­ate care can have on patients and families.

Car­ing as a Team

Today, Andrew and Shel­by both work as nurs­es at QMG’s Ambu­la­to­ry Surgery Cen­ter, car­ing for patients before, dur­ing, and after surgery. 

“Work­ing in the OR, I enjoy know­ing that the work we do can make such a big impact on a patient’s recov­ery and qual­i­ty of life,” Andrew said. ​“What I love most about my job is the con­nec­tions that I have made work­ing with the peo­ple I do. We work well togeth­er and real­ly treat each oth­er like family.”

Shel­by shares that appre­ci­a­tion for the team environment.

“There are mul­ti­ple rea­sons I love my role at the surgery cen­ter, but I love the cama­raderie between my cowork­ers the most,” she said. ​“It’s a team effort to pre­pare, treat, and dis­charge the amount of patients we care for each day. My cowork­ers are so help­ful, and we often can be heard in the hall­ways laughing.”

Togeth­er, they help cre­ate an envi­ron­ment where patients feel sup­port­ed and where cowork­ers feel like family.

Grow­ing Together

Through nurs­ing school, career mile­stones, and life’s biggest deci­sions, Andrew and Shel­by have nav­i­gat­ed each chap­ter side by side.

“I am most proud of how far we have both come, not only in our nurs­ing careers, but in life togeth­er,” Andrew said. ​“We sup­port­ed each oth­er through nurs­ing school, big life deci­sions, grow­ing pro­fes­sion­al­ly, and build­ing our fam­i­ly and future.”

For Shel­by, the pride lies in the life they’ve built beyond their careers.

“I am proud of the life we have built togeth­er,” she said. ​“I’m obsessed with our lit­tle fam­i­ly, and the peo­ple we sur­round our­selves with are pret­ty cool.”

Lessons That Extend Beyond Work

Nurs­ing has shaped who they are, not just pro­fes­sion­al­ly, but per­son­al­ly and as a family.

“Nurs­ing has taught us patience, com­pas­sion, and resilience,” Andrew said. ​“Indi­vid­u­al­ly, it has helped us grow into stronger and more under­stand­ing peo­ple. As a fam­i­ly, it has helped us appre­ci­ate the lit­tle things and the time we have togeth­er while sup­port­ing each oth­er through life’s challenges.”

Shel­by says her work con­tin­u­al­ly reminds her to pause and appre­ci­ate what mat­ters most.

“Nurs­ing has taught me to be thank­ful, espe­cial­ly for my health and my sup­port sys­tem,” she said. ​“We often see unfor­tu­nate sit­u­a­tions, from patients with ter­mi­nal diag­noses to patients with awful liv­ing sit­u­a­tions, and it makes me pause and reflect upon all that I have in my life.”

See­ing Each Oth­er Through a Nurse’s Eyes

Work­ing in the same pro­fes­sion gives them a unique per­spec­tive on one another.

“Shel­by is one of the most car­ing and empa­thet­ic peo­ple I know,” Andrew said. ​“She has one of the biggest hearts and cares deeply about her patients. She push­es her patients to be the best they can be while always mak­ing them feel sup­port­ed and cared for.”

Shel­by admires not only Andrew’s work eth­ic, but the ener­gy he brings to those around him.

“Andrew is so fun,” she said. ​“While he can be count­ed on by oth­ers to work hard and be a resource, he makes for a pos­i­tive envi­ron­ment by his jokes and quick wit.”

A Shared Purpose

Dur­ing Nurs­es’ Week, Andrew and Shelby’s sto­ry reflects the heart of nursing. 

Togeth­er, they care for patients dur­ing vul­ner­a­ble moments. Togeth­er, they sup­port one anoth­er through life’s chal­lenges. And togeth­er, they demon­strate that nurs­ing isn’t just some­thing they do.

It’s some­thing they live — side by side, every day.