Emergency Nurses Week Highlight: Alanna Morales

Editor's Note: V.I. Consortium has joined with emergency nurses at the Juan F. Luis Hospital to highlight some of these outstanding first responders as part of Emergency Nurses Week (Oct. 10-16), an annual celebration dedicated to those who selflessly devote themselves to their patients. This year's theme is "Grit of Emergency Nurses".

Today, the spotlight is on Alanna Morales.

In 2004, Alanna Morales, BSN, RN, moved to St. Croix to attend the University of the Virgin Islands and fulfill her passion to serve others in their time of need. After graduating in 2008, she immediately began working at Juan F. Luis Hospital. Upon completion of a hospital-sponsored critical care training course, she began orienting in the Emergency Department.

For Morales, it only took one week to realize that this was the department. The ED, she says, has kept her engaged and the hospital on a whole has pushed her to go beyond and obtain specialized certifications to better care for emergency patients — all of whom are of all ages in varying levels of acute emergencies.