April Rose of the Greenville, NC area is no stranger to a life of service.
As a proud veteran of the US Marine Corps and an in-home pediatric skilled nurse, April understands what it means to devote your life’s work to serving your country, neighbors, and loved ones. She also knows how important it is to stand up for an important cause in order to help facilitate change, which is why she has also become an avid home care advocate.
April served in the Marine Corps from 2009-2012 as an aviation technician and was honorably discharged when she sustained an injury during training. Upon discharge, April used her GI Bill to start pursuing her dream of becoming a nurse, which she achieved in 2012 when she became a licensed practical nurse (LPN). Since then, April went on to become an registered nurse (RN) in 2021, and received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) in 2022. She now is living her dream, working as a pediatric home care nurse, and caring for the most medically fragile children in North Carolina.
But her passion to help people doesn’t stop there…
April is also an avid home care advocate, speaking out to raise awareness on the importance of lawmakers providing in-home programs with adequate funding so that nurses like her can earn a livable wage and that her patients can continue to access care. Recently, April authored an op-ed which was featured in the Daily Reflector, asking North Carolina legislators to support home care nurses and invest in home-based care programs. And her advocacy paid off…
Thanks to April’s efforts coupled with other NC advocates who took action, the North Carolina Legislature approved over $100 million in increased funding to home and community-based programs for 2023-2025!
Hearts for Home Care is so grateful to this nation’s veterans who have devoted their lives to servitude. This Veterans Day, we honor exceptional individuals like April who have gone above and beyond for their country, neighbors, and loved ones.
We asked April a few questions about her time in the military and now as a home care nurse:
- Why is living a life of servitude important to you?
- “I have actually been in a servant and/or leadership role since I was 15 years old waiting tables, and it’s something I have always loved! My servant roles in the Marines and now as a nurse have been very rewarding and life changing. Being a servant has given me the chance/knowledge to speak up and advocate for individuals that can’t speak up for themselves and has allowed me to speak up for their families and other nurses within this field as well.”
- What lessons did you learn in the military that you still practice while nursing?
- “The discipline, attention to detail, integrity, and accountability were some of the biggest lessons I learned. I still apply them day to day, and it is very helpful as a pediatric home health care nurse because we are caring for these kids in their homes, ALONE. One has to be disciplined enough to make sure they are doing what needs to be done, attentive enough to watch for changes in our clients (even very subtle changes), and have integrity and accountability for what we chart and sign as things that we completed.“
- Why do you choose to advocate?
- “I learned in the military – and have seen it in my nursing career – that the greatest healing takes place in the home, surrounded by loved ones. Providing care in the home allows for one-on-one care, where all the patient’s needs are provided for. I’m advocating for all the nurses that work in home health care and the patients living at home that don’t get nursing care as they should because of the extreme shortage of nurses nationwide, but especially so in home health care. Nurses aren’t staying in home health care because the wages have been significantly lower than wages at a facility. The cause I have been advocating for, is to increase wages for home health care workers, to hopefully bring in more nurses to keep more medically fragile kids at home with their loved ones and out of a facility. I like to say, “Home is where the heart is, and home is where the healing takes place.””
