Giving it ‘the Mom test’

“God gives us each day to enjoy. You’ve got to enjoy the journey.”

– Gayla Finstrom

Gayla Finstrom sits with a woman who will be undergoing surgery at Mercy Hospital Cadillac. The woman doesn’t feel well and she’s struggling to fight back tears of worry and fear.

Gayla’s job is to complete the pre-admission testing. But more importantly, it is her job to put patients at ease by answering questions and addressing concerns. Gayla takes her time, gently explaining each step of the surgical procedure so that the woman knows what to expect. Gayla explains how she’ll feel after surgery, how long she’ll be in the hospital and how her care will continue once she goes home.

Little by little, the woman relaxes. When Gayla gives her a reassuring hug on her way out, she smiles. In 30 years of working as a nurse, Gayla has seen and eased a lot of fear. She does it by using what she calls “the Mom test.”

“Every patient should be treated like I’d treat my own family member, no different. You ask yourself, ‘Is this how I’d like my mother to be treated?’”

“Reducing fear has a very real impact on a patient’s physical well-being,” Gayla said. “The less anxiety a patient has, the less medication they are going to need. When you are a patient and you believe ‘everybody here really cares about me personally’ you are going to do better. You are not a disease process. You are a person.”

Spend a few minutes talking to Gayla and you will know two things about her: she is passionate about nursing, and she is the embodiment of compassion.

“I still think nursing is awesome,” Gayla said. “After 30 years I would still go back into it today. It’s not about the money. It’s not about good hours. If you personally want to make a difference in someone’s life, if you want to comfort them, if you really want to help the core of the person, then nursing may be for you.”

Gayla is one of three nurses at Mercy Hospital Cadillac who work in the Pre-Admission Teaching and Testing department. A former emergency room nurse, Gayla enjoys the private, one-on-one time with patients that her job requires.

“When you get them in a closed office and make them comfortable, you really find out about their concerns,” she said. “You assess their knowledge base and their perceptions and you build from there. We look at patients holistically to create a real snapshot of their health. We discuss their home life – everything that affects their health. Sometimes we are the very first person to know about that chest pain they’ve been having.

“Often people seem OK on the outside who are having great struggles inside,” Gayla said. “Sometimes they are concerned about whether they can pay for their care – they are struggling financially and they haven’t told anyone. We are usually able to help and the outcomes are usually awesome – it’s a wonderful job to have.”

A Farm Girl
Gayla grew up on a farm in McBain. She received her nursing education at St. Mary’s Mercy in Grand Rapids but immediately returned to northern Michigan. “I chose to come back because community and family are so important to me,” she said. “I hoped that one day I’d marry and have children who would be close to their grandparents. I was given all of that. God gave me the right man. My husband is my buddy. I’m very, very fortunate.”

Gayla is married to Gary Finstrom, who is Wexford County’s sheriff. They have raised three sons, Ryan, 24, a police officer in Crawford County; Chad, 22, a dairy farmer; and Troy, 21, a student at Michigan State. “We had three boys in three-and-a-half years,” Gayla said. “It’s very OK to have them grown. God gives us each day to enjoy. You’ve got to enjoy the journey and I truly have enjoyed every phase along the way. Our job was to raise them to be productive citizens and you have to be willing to let them go.”

Gayla and Gary have now turned their attention to raising livestock and have acquired a small herd of Belted Galloways, also known as “oreo” cows. “They really are Gary’s pets,” she said. “Farming is in his blood.” They also have two labs, two llamas and two donkeys, but “it really isn’t Noah’s Ark,” Gayla says.

When she isn’t gazing out the window at the herd, Gayla also enjoys quilting, knitting and reading. She and Gary are both active at Northline Community Church.

Patients First
At Mercy Cadillac, she is focused on patients. “I am not a self-inflating person, but when I am caring for someone I am the core of that patient’s care. Nurses are the hub of the wheel and are ultimately responsible for everything that happens to that patient. I am my patient’s advocate to make sure they receive the best care possible under my watch. I live that. I believe that. That’s my first responsibility.”

Even after three decades, Gayla continues to invest a lot of herself in her job. “You give a piece of yourself to every patient,” she said. “If you open yourself up to them, they will open up to you. And when they leave, a little piece of yourself goes with them.”