We are grateful for all of our nurses! Below please find the stories of three of our dozens of nursing team members.

Rhonda Swift, MSN, RN, joined Mays Cancer Center in September 2018 as a primary nurse for the gastroenterology oncology clinic. She said that her parents are her biggest motivator in the care she provides. Swift’s parents were both diagnosed with cancer and lost their battle. It’s important to her to make sure that she treats our patients like they were her own. Swift’s husband played a key role in caring for her father while he underwent treatment and appreciates his involvement with her family’s care. Swift is dedicated to helping the patients and their families through this journey. She understands that cancer is a difficult and frightening path to experience and ensures that she makes herself available emotionally for her patients, as well. Swift said, “They know I am here for them for whatever reason they might need to talk to me.”

Veronica Gonzalez, RN, has been with UT Health San Antonio for two and a half years. Gonzalez’s desire to help others motivated her to become a nurse. Being able to care for and provide compassionate service to patients is very rewarding to her not only professionally, but personally and spiritually, as well. Her biggest motivators are her patients. Gonzalez understands that every patient is unique and that they require special nursing care. Meeting patients’ health care needs is an everyday goal she strives to accomplish. Gonzalez says: “To me, nursing is a very rewarding career. I have the privilege and honor to work with some of the best physicians in the country. The knowledge gained is endless in nursing; there is always something new to learn. But the most rewarding part of my job is knowing that I make a difference in a person’s life by helping them overcome a health crisis.”

Jesus Iracheta, RN, has been a nurse with UT Health San Antonio for 15 years. Jesus takes a lot of pride and finds the most rewarding part of being a nurse is making someone’s day better and helping restore their quality of life. It’s things like seeing and hearing a patient laugh and smile that make him feel rewarded. Jesus said his family and his patients are his biggest motivators, adding, “They motivate me to be a better son, brother, father and nurse.”