Putting out fires—that’s the short answer Shelly Hanson gives to folks when they ask what she does all day as a cluster nurse manager at the Estelle Unit, a correctional managed care facility in Huntsville.
While Hanson shares this to-the-point description of her work completely in jest and with a bit of a chuckle, there’s truth in her words.
With the task of overseeing the day-to-day nursing operations and staff for one of the most complex criminal justice facilities in the state, there’s rarely a slow moment in Hanson’s day—which usually starts well before sunrise.
“I’m an early bird,” Hanson said. “I’m up around 3 in the morning.”
Her routine starts with a trip to the gym, but it’s not long before she shifts her focus to the tasks and the to-dos she’ll be tackling with and for her team in the hours ahead.
“I can’t let it wait,” she said, referring to the emails she knows are surely in her inbox. “If I let it wait, then I’m afraid I’ll miss something.”
So, she makes a point to check those emails well before physically making her way into her office—partially because she’s a diligent person but also because just making it to her computer at work is a task in itself.
Entering a space like the Estelle Unit requires check points, screenings and other measures to ensure everyone within the secured walls are as safe as can be.
It’s a process very different than what is experienced by patient care providers in the “free world”—the phrase used to describe the more traditional, non-correctional clinical setting.
“Making it through the building looks a little different every day,” Hanson said. “Sometimes, you get pulled in to chat with the warden about new or evolving situations that require our perspective and then, of course, I try to make the rounds to check in with my folks across the complex.”
When it comes to the health care side of the Estelle Unit, it is comprised of a lot of different spaces, including a sheltered housing facility, a program for physically handicapped inmates, a program for substance abuse and a regional medical facility.
With approximately 139 positions rolling up to Hanson, she has folks under her purview in most of those areas every day.
“I like to check on them regularly just to see if they need anything,” she said.
Deep inside the unit
On most days, Hanson tries to do all of that before before heading deep inside the Estelle complex where her office is housed.
“My office is about a half mile into the building,” she says. “Once I’m in there there’s any number of things I could be doing, from working on reports to creating upcoming schedules for the team.”
Currently, the unit is prepping to be a pilot site for a “hub” area that would house Emergency Medicine doctors in the facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so that project—which is set to launch soon—has been keeping Hanson busy, too.
“The thought behind the hub and having these services accessible here around the clock is that, should an issue arise overnight when other areas are shut down, nurses can triage patients and then bring them there versus going to another hospital,” she said. “It’s a matter of safety and efficiency.”
From the physical setting to projects like the hub, correctional care is a niche mission rife with its own unique challenges and opportunities. In this realm for more than 15 years now, Hanson knows it’s not right for everyone, but it’s a perfect fit for her.
“When some people enter the unit, they panic when that door closes behind them. Almost like they can’t get out,” she said. “But I didn’t feel that way when I first visited to tour the facility and I never have. I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be.”
Hanson must be in the right place, as the work she does every day continues to be recognized across the correctional managed care mission area.
'Her dedication is obvious'
The first large-scale kudos she garnered came in 2016, when she earned the title of Nurse Manager of the Year for 2015.
Nominated by her then-direct supervisor Justin Robison, regional chief nursing officer, Hanson was praised for her innovative ideas, ability to see the big picture, work ethic and more. To this day, Robison continues to applaud Hanson’s nonstop efforts.
“Shelly continues to lead and manage nursing services at Estelle through ongoing staffing challenges,” he said. “Her dedication is obvious, and she works tirelessly to ensure our patient population receives the best care possible.”
A modest, collaborative individual, Hanson shies away from taking all the glory. Even with her most recent acknowledgment, which came in August when the Texas Board of Criminal Justice recognized her for her ongoing, agile problem solving and diligence throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The minute someone brings it up, she’s quick to redirect the praise to her team.
“It takes a village to do what we do,” she says. “I couldn’t do it without the people here.”
'I actually love what I do'
Her team-centric spirit and passion for the colleagues, peers and nursing students around her is evident in the way she directly and indirectly influences them throughout their own journeys.
“Shelly works directly with nursing students during rotations at Estelle and has visited and lectured at nursing schools promoting correctional nursing opportunities,” said Laura David, Region 1 nurse manager and Hanson’s current boss. “Additionally, through her mentorship and staff development, two of her nursing supervisors were recently promoted to cluster nurse managers within UTMB-CMC and are excelling at their new positions.”
Hanson credits the support of leaders like Robison and David for all she’s been able to achieve so far and says they’ve helped influence the type of leader she herself is today.
“I’ve always tried to surround myself with people who have knowledge I don’t, so that I can grow,” Hanson said. “I’m lucky to have found that here, and I try to offer that to my people, too. You work to hone their strengths but also address their weaknesses so they can get stronger in those areas.”
As she talks about mentoring the next generation of nursing leaders, there’s a detectable excitement in Hanson’s voice, but there’s also a level of reassuring calm. She knows what she’s doing, she’s passionate about it and it shows.
“I actually love what we do,” she said. “I feel like we're servant leaders to not just our patient population, but also to our communities because we work in an environment and do the jobs a lot of people would never sign up to do.”