Cindy Broughton was recently hired as the Nursing Services Program Manager with HSD’s Aging & Disability Services Care Coordination Program. She coordinates nurse consultations for high-risk older people and adults with disabilities who have medically unstable health conditions as part of a program that helps people to remain safe and healthy and live independently in their own homes. She writes about navigating the changes to the nursing field in recent years while maintaining respect and compassion for both her colleagues and the people they serve.
What is your role at Seattle Human Services?
I was hired in September 2024 as the first Aging & Disability Services (ADS) Care Coordination Program Nursing Services Manager. I manage eight Registered Nurse (RN) Consultants at HSD’s Downtown Seattle and South King County offices. RN Consultants collaborate with our case management teams to ensure that our clients have comprehensive, wrap-around care to remain safely in their homes.
What made you want to work in human services?
Most of my career has been in service to high-risk, low-income, marginalized populations in our community. HSD’s mission and vision align with my personal and professional values. It’s very fulfilling to support and empower our nursing teams to provide outstanding client-centered care coordination to our diverse client population.
How has your job changed in recent years?
I’ve worked at both Seattle and Manhattan (New York) Veterans Administration Medical Centers in rehab and intensive care units (ICUs). My work has revolved around service to at-risk children and adults through public health services in Seattle-King County, Tacoma-Pierce County, and Las Vegas-Clark County (Nevada).
Most recently, I worked as an occupational health nurse for hospital and juvenile detention employees to keep employees safe and protected on the job during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s an honor to bring my years of public service experience to help shape and inform the ADS nursing services program throughout King County. The medical and social complexity and cultural diversity of the populations we serve cannot be understated. We are tasked with providing more complicated care despite shrinking staffing and funding. This is why it is my goal to help our Registered Nurse Consultants find and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
What do you love about your job?
I love providing the education and support our nurses need to confidently and effectively serve our community with excellence and compassion.
How do you contribute to HSD’s overarching goals related to racial equity?
My personal experience—coming from a multi-racial family—gives me a racial equity lens in everything I do. You never know what life experiences or trauma others have been through. I strive to lead with respect and compassion both within our racially diverse staff as well as our racially diverse communities.
What motivates you or keeps you going?
I’ve learned that self-care and a healthy work-life balance are instrumental in staying engaged and innovative at work. I want to support our team to find such a balance themselves. Work hard, play hard keeps me engaged at work and home!
What’s one piece of advice for HSD newcomers or recent graduates in your field?
The cost-effective, safe, and high-quality health care services registered nurses provide will be an increasingly important component of our health care delivery system in the future. This year’s theme for National Nurses Week, “The Power of Nurses,” recognizes nurses’ unparalleled impact and their contributions to health care. It is an open invitation to #ThankANurse for enriching our lives and the world we live in during the week of May 6-12!
Be open to opportunities! Nursing is such a dynamic, innovative field; if one area is not for you, try another! You can set up well-child clinics and offer lifesaving vaccines, become a flight nurse and transport trauma patients from the field to regional trauma centers, or provide care coordination and support to low-income elderly and disabled folks, enabling them to live their best lives with dignity and respect rather than becoming institutionalized.