VA Loma Linda Hero is Captain Angela Andress, U.S. Army, or “Angie” as she is lovingly referred to within the halls of the Medical Center. To know Angie is to know someone that deeply cares for not just our Veterans, but staff as well. A humble and successful leader, Angie’s story is one of triumph and resilience that every employee and patient should know.
Born to a U.S. Army Family in Germany, Angie has always been around the military. Her father’s career took her many places from Germany to Washington DC to Indiana – which is where she calls home. She decided to study nursing at Purdue University, where she graduated with a 4.0. After working for a time as a nursing assistant, she moved to Chicago. Although she didn’t see herself as a leader, after just six months in her new nursing position she was appointed the charge nurse of the step-down unit at Advocate Christ Hospital in Oaklawn, Illinois. Having taught English and Math to soldiers with the ‘March to Success Program’ in Chicago, Angie felt drawn to the army herself and joined as an officer in 2008. From there, she alternated working summers serving our military and the rest of the year caring for civilian patients at Advocate Christ.
Thankfully, her husband’s army career moved her to California in 2009 which led to her application for employment with the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System. Her first appointment with our healthcare system was as the charge nurse in 4SW where she currently serves as the nurse manager. However, as of right now she is assisting the facility as the Nurse Manager of our Mental Health Unit.
On leadership, Angie believes, “You have to pay attention to the small things.” She never asks anyone to do anything she isn’t willing to do herself and leadership requires the ability to be a good problem solver. Her supervisor, Ms. Kimberly Willis, agrees that this is one of Angie’s greatest strengths, she “turns lemons into the sweetest lemonade.” Angie builds trust with her staff by working side by side and allowing them to contact her directly any time. Though she admits that bureaucracy and battling at the VA can sometimes be challenging, she recognizes that everyone is doing the best they can and that system is part of the “problem solving” aspect of management.
To be an effective leader, she has drawn on the best qualities of some of her peers. This includes management of employee labor, issues from the ICU nurse manager – Michelle Simpson, organization and education prowess from our nurse manager on 4NW – MS. Susan Holley-Washer, and the detail-oriented approach of one of our nurse educators – Ms. Charlene Beaulieu. She believes that successful employees lead to successful managers and encourages her staff to seek out their passions and career goals.
How does she battle the stress of such a demanding position? She takes it back to its roots – the patient. Since Angie has continued to pursue education and competencies in nursing, she can sometimes relax by connecting back to the Veterans we serve. She will sometimes visit her unit during her off tour to check in on staff or patients and enjoys engaging with them.
Angie wants our patients to know that our nurses truly do care about them and want to give them every opportunity to get well.
We want to thank Angie for being truly dedicated to taking the best care of our Veterans and inspiring her staff to do the same. Her resilience, perseverance, and creativity has earned her high praise from her management and she is greatly appreciated.
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