Narrator: On a typical day, in Simpsonville, South Carolina you might not expect to see many surprises when you're out shopping, especially when it's about work.

Kristy: My name is Kristy David and I am a Quality Management Nurse Consultant.

Narrator: Kristy used to be a Nurse Case Manager, but now focuses on something a little bit different.

Kristy: I am responsible for auditing the cases of our nurses and our support staff, our CMAs.  We pull cases once a month, listen to calls, look at the documentation, and make sure that our staff is doing the quality work that we know that they can do.  I've been at Aetna about four years now and before that I was in the ICU myself for about six or so years. So I feel that having all of this experience, I can help other people grow in their roles.

Narrator: On a Sunday afternoon at Costco, Kristy was surprised when an employee struck up a conversation.

Kristy: I went to Costco with my husband and my two small children, and as potential club members, we were told to go to the Customer Service desk, so we did.  And I was asked by the Customer Service Associate there if I worked for Aetna.  And I realized that I had been wearing my Aetna sweatshirt and I told her yes I did.  At that point she went on to tell me that he r husband had just spent four days in the ICU and he was very ill.  And I told her I was very sorry to hear that, but she went on to tell me that she received a call from a nurse at Aetna and this really meant so much to her.  When you go to Costco with your family on a Sunday, you don't really expect somebody to say to you, Hey do you work for Aetna? and hear their stories.  She felt that Aetna cared, she was blown away by the fact that the nurse had called her and reached out to her and then not only had spoken with her while her husband was in the hospital, but also said that she would be receiving a call once he was discharged home.  

Narrator: A nice gesture by the Costco employee, but why did it impress Kristy the way it did?

Kristy: I was really speechless, it was so striking to me.  This lady was right there, and she was looking me in the eyes and telling me that this meant the world to her.  My husband was there, my kids were there, they got to hear the whole story.  I felt so proud because they know what I do in the course of the day and they know that I'm very passionate about what I do.  In my former roll as a Case Manager at Aetna, I had made multiple outreach attempts just like the one she had spoken about.  So to hear her reference that call, I knew exactly what she was talking about, I knew exactly what they probably spoke about on the call, and so that was a really neat experience.

Narrator: Kristy is a mom, a work-at-home, a dog lover and a soap maker.  That's right, I said a soap maker.

Kristy: I needed something to do that would take my stress away, help me relieve some stress, and something that I could do for myself and really enjoy.  So I decided to start making soap.

Narrator: Wow, that's a lot of busy.  How does she do it all?

Kristy: Get up, get the kids ready for school, make some breakfast, turn the computer on, make sure that all of my systems are up and running, make sure that the kids get off to school without any kind of issues, get on my treadmill and start walking and start my day.  It's a treadmill desk.  I was developing worsening pain.  I've had it for about two months now.  I don't have the pain that I've had at all.  It was the best decision that I;ve made in a really long time.  

Narrator: And what about the challenges of working at home?

Kristy: It's very easy to get caught up in working a twelve-hour day, especially working at home. Sometimes it's hard to peel yourself away from the computer, and some days it really is peeling yourself away from the computer.  But most days I try to make sure that I've got that balance.

Narrator: So Kristy's been a Nurse, a Nurse Case Manager, and now she's a Quality Management Nurse Consultant.  She maintains a good work balance and a family balance well.  Kristy sums up her career like this:

Kristy: I do my job because I care about people.  I think that if you don't work to make the world a better place, it's not going to be a better place.  I feel that being a Nurse, being a Case Manager, and even being in Quality, I'm helping the world be a little more of a better place.