Name: Howard Rains
Job Title: Staff Nurse
Organization: Southern AZ Veteran’s Health Care
Education: Associate Degree of Nursing
Special Nursing Interests/Comments:
Health Care is a team sport and I have had the privilege of being a part of many excellent teams since I began my health care career with Kord’s Ambulance Service as an EMT in 1981.
From Kord’s, the US Army, one of the world’s finest teams, allowed me to serve with them for 10 years, first as a combat medic, then as an LPN. The Army eventually asked me to serve as an instructor at their Practical Nurse Program instructor’s team at Fort Sam Houston, Texas where I learned a great deal about teaching the next generation of LPNs.
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Upon leaving the Army in 1992, we relocated to the Kansas City where long term care called my name. The teams I worked with showed me the incredible dedication, skills and humanity shown by those who have been called to work with some of our most vulnerable, yet intriguing, citizens. One day, a teammate, convinced me to sign up for a nursing program aimed at the working student. My wife and my team at home supported and encouraged me as I worked full-time and went to school full-time in order to serve another team in a different capacity.
Graduation in 1994 brought me to management teams with a couple of different long-term care organizations; first as Assistant Director of Nursing, Director of Nursing, Director of Training and other positions. Eventually though, America’s military called again and I began serving with the Veteran’s Administration at the Kansas City VA. A death in family brought me back to my Tucson home and the Tucson VA.
I initially served with the Rehab Team helping veterans recover from strokes, heart attacks and joint replacements. My greatest reward, however, was serving with the Emergency Department team for over 15 years. They were, and they remain, an amazing group. I have now moved on to a Primary Care Team where I am serving with a marvelous assemblage where we work on meeting the needs of America’s veterans in a whole different way than we did in the ED.
