There are several things you need to work in a medical profession. Thinking quickly on your feet, being a problem solver, and having a healing touch are just a few.
There is a nurse at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in McKinney whose colleagues say has them all. There is something Rebecca Capen doesn't have and that's just one of the reasons she is an inspiration to so many.
"To tell you the truth, I never really thought of it that way. I thought of myself as another nurse at the hospital," Capen said.
Capen is deaf, but she has never let that stop her from doing what she loves to do as an oncology nurse at the hospital. Helping people who can't help themselves.
"Sometimes, it just takes very little to make them happy. Sometimes it could take more to make them happy, but what really what really gets me is when people say to me, 'thank you for making things better for me,'" Capen said.
After all, she has dealt with adversity for much of her life. There were many people who told her she would never become a nurse because of her diagnosis, but she never let that stop her.
"I like the fact that I can make a difference in people’s lives," Capen said. "I try not to make my hearing loss about me, because that isn’t really who I am. I am a nurse. That’s who I am."
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She said she sees patients every day who just need someone to put a smile on their face and she is happy to do it. After all, a smile, is the same in every language. Even in sign language. Capen has actually been called to different floors of the hospital when patients who need a sign language interpreter are admitted.
Nurse Manager Megan Jackson said Capen is one of the hardest workers she has ever met.
"You would never know that Rebecca had any challenges to overcome, because she does her job so well," Jackson said.
Capen, who can now hear with the help of a cochlear implant, said there is always a constant when it comes to nursing. Smiles can sometimes be the best medicine and it doesn’t matter what language you speak.
