Elizabeth Couto
39 | Director for Vermont Chapters of ANA and ENA, Nurse Manager of the Emergency Department at Copley Hospital, American Nurses Association of Vermont, Emergency Nurses Association, Copley Hospital
Residence: Lamoille
Career Highlights: The career highlight I’m most proud of is working with Vermont professional nursing organizations and our state government officials to create, advocate, and implement ACT 9: An Act Relating to Preventing Workplace Violence in Hospitals. This law supports guidelines, resources, and standards in hospital settings across the state for employee safety.
Community Involvement: My community involvement includes serving on the board of directors for both Vermont chapters of The American Nurses Association and The Emergency Nurses Association. These professional organizations are dedicated to ‘improving the quality of healthcare and nursing, to enhance the health of the people of Vermont and nurses, empowering nurses, and advocating health and wellbeing’. Each organization’s board of directors are all passionate, intelligent, and committed to ensuring that mission is carried out for our nursing profession. The collaboration on the board is supportive and empowering to ensure the care we provide in all of our communities, reflects our mission and it’s an honor to be a part of that for our communities individually and state.
What motivated you to live and work in Vermont: I was motivated to live and work in Vermont by the lifestyle: “work where you play”. I love being a part of a community and state that shares my values for family goals and a love for the outdoors. When I moved here from NJ, I joined Mount Mansfield Ski Patrol as a female snowboarder, fell in a love with the community and state, and knew that this was home.
Favorite part of your job: My favorite part of my job is the team I work with. From my colleagues at ANA and ENA, to the community hospital I currently work in, the people make the work worth it. Healthcare certainly has its challenges, but when you can work with people who make you smile, in good times and bad, working towards the same goals, it’s a good day every day.
What is the best career advice: The best career advice I have received is to ‘be the leader you would want’. There are many types of leadership styles, and each place and space can have multiple styles, but finding your own, in your career makes a difference in how successful you can be. “Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge” – Simon Sinek.
Tell us something fun about yourself that few people know: Few people know that I love terrible action movies (when I have time to watch them). I could watch The Expendables 1-27+, Die Hard, or The John Wick series over and over… and I do.
What would most people be surprised to learn about you: I’m actually an introvert. My profession often puts me in settings where I need to, and can be, an extrovert, and while I do enjoy all of that, I actually really appreciate protecting my peace with those quieter activities, and smaller groups, that I draw energy from.
Favorite Vermont escape: My favorite Vermont escape is The Lookout on Spruce Peak.
Favorite downtime activity: My favorite downtime activity is snowboarding in the winter or biking any other season.
If you had unlimited access to funds, which cause(s) would you support: The cause I would support, with unlimited funds, would be The World Food Program USA (WFP). This organization provides food to those who do not have equal access to that basic human need.
What one song is on your playlist that are you embarrassed to tell your best friend: The song on my playlist I would be embarrassed to tell my best friend is My House by Flo Rida.
What career goal(s) would you like to accomplish in the next 5-10 years: The career goals I’d like to accomplish in the next 5-10 years are to continue the work with ANA and ENA to continue to collaborate, advocate, and improve the quality of health care in Vermont as well as federally. I would like to see the nursing profession grow for improved sustainability and professional satisfaction as well as continue to protect our practice to ensure quality care that our patients deserve. That work is directly connected to the challenging statistics around nursing workforce and health care reform, and I’d like to be a part of changing that projected data for the better.
What’s the ideal next move for you in your career: Ideally, I’d like to continue to grow in, and grow with, my local community hospital. Bringing the mission of ANA and ENA to the Emergency Department that I work in and the team that I work with, allows me to directly support my local community and colleagues.
Drawing on your experiences, what advice would you give to someone looking to get involved in community service: Get involved with something that you love. We can all be better about lending a hand here and there, but in order to really get involved and invest your time and energy in community service, your heart should be in it.