Everyone, Everyday. Relentlessly: Meet Stephanie Minardi, RN

As we update our brand name to UMass Memorial Health and launch a new brand campaign, it’s time to tell the world who we are, what we do and what we stand for as a health care system. Our relentless caregivers are the inspiration for the update of our new brand name and campaign. Find out more about these caregivers and how it takes everyone, every day working together relentlessly to care for our patients and each other. This week, we interviewed Stephanie Minardi, RN — whose previous career as an EMT helped steel her for the challenges of COVID-19. 

“Everything chose me,” says Stephanie Minardi, RN, whose career path is itself a story of relentless pursuit of one’s goals — in the name of helping others.

Stephanie grew up in a military family in Spencer, Massachusetts and dreamed of a life in service. Her plans to enlist in the Marines changed abruptly, however, when she became pregnant with her son. But her desire to serve her community never wavered. She eventually enrolled in the Fire Science program at Anna Maria College and the EMT training program at Quinsigamond Community College (QCC), graduating with dual associate’s degrees. 

For the next 17 years, Stephanie worked as an EMT, comforting patients as the ambulance transported them to area hospitals. “I loved my patient interactions and being a medic,” she recalled. “I would drop my patients off at Worcester hospitals and then wonder, ‘What happened to them? Where did they go?’" Stephanie checked in on those patients when she could, getting to know some of the nurses on duty. This inspired her next career move. 

“I needed another challenge,” said Stephanie, who earned her BS in Nursing Education from Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and her AS in Nurse Education/Registered Nurse from QCC. She served as a nephrology nurse for DaVita Dialysis before hiring on to UMass Memorial – Marlborough Hospital in November 2017, initially working in the ICU and now in the emergency department. 

Now a wife and mother of three children (and a dog mom), Stephanie brings her tireless energy to the 7 am to 7 pm shift. “It’s not just about asking patients, ‘Why are you here?’ and giving them meds,” she reflected. “It’s about listening to their stories and coming up with an individualized plan for each patient.”  

Stephanie’s background as a medic helped prepare her for the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis. “Every time in life I’ve been knocked down, I get back up,” Stephanie said. She credits her colleagues with supporting each other through those long days and nights, when so many patients in need flowed into the ED. “Relentless meant we refused to give up,” she shared. “We had challenges, but we’d work through them and find a different course. We got through it together.” 

She credits UMass Memorial Health and the Worcester business community for lifting up its caregivers. “I felt like UMass Memorial Health had our backs 100 percent,” she said. “If we needed supplies, we got them. We also had local businesses bring us food and water, even though they were closed. Some of us would actually get together and bring canned food to our patients' houses that we knew needed our help, and UMass Memorial Health was behind us.” 

Stephanie says she backs the Everyone, Everyday, Relentlessly campaign, because that’s how she and her colleagues operate. “When I was in the ICU and the emergency room, and I was still working on the ambulance, not once did I ever hear anyone say, ‘This is a pandemic. What are we going to do?’ It was more like, ‘Hey, listen. This is what we're going to do ….’”