Linda Lawrence (Lead Mentor)
rajlin@sbcglobal.net
Linda has been a nurse for nearly 22 years, after obtaining her BS in Nursing
from Cal State Hayward. Many of those years have been spent taking care of Cardiac patients in Telemetry and Intensive Care. For the past 8 years, Linda has enjoyed working at Mercy General floating through all the ICU's and ER. She also worked for several years at MGH as Relief Administrative Supervisor on the Night shift. She really enjoyed the chance to meet a lot of the nursing staff throughout the hospital and lend them support during critical situations. She volunteered to be a nurse mentor because of her love for nursing as a profession and the desire to help new incoming nurses feel welcome and valuable. She really enjoys being a resource to new staff and appreciates the collaborative nature of nursing.
Natasha Gmyr
vitaltyg@cwnet.com
Natasha has been doing some type of nursing for 6 years 
now. She started as a Certified Nurses Assistant and after two years she became an LVN while working towards becoming an RN, which she has been for two years now. Currently she works in the Cardiac Intervention unit at Mercy General Hospital and her areas of specialty are Cardiology and Oncology. Natasha's motivation comes from wanting to help ensure that nurses with cultural differences, whether it is religious, political, or linguistic, are able to get the support that they need to help them adapt and succeed while working in the American healthcare system.
Megan Hopper
meghop@surewest.net
Megan has been a nurse at Mercy General Hospital 
since she graduated 8 years ago. She is currently working on the Med-Surg/Tele unit which is her area of specialty. Her motivation to be a mentor is partially based on the fact that she didn't have one as a new graduate and feels that it would have been easier to adjust if she did. She wants to make sure that fewer nurses have that experience and thinks that the mentor program is something that will help make that a reality.
Wohma Menyon
Wohma works at Mercy General in the Med-Surg 
Unit which is her specialty. She has been an RN for 5 years and was an LVN for 5 years prior to that. She has received her Associates in Science from Sacramento City College in 1995 and then continued on to get her AND in 2000. Her experiences precepting new nurses has been very strengthening and rewarding and she feels that she is learning just as much by doing it as the preceptee that she is working with. It is these positive experiences as a preceptor that are motivating her to become a mentor, where she can reach out to newer or transitioning nurses on a closer level and help them realize the satisfaction that the nursing profession provides.
Colleen Mueller
cocosews@sbcglobal.net
Colleen has been nursing for 8 years and works at 
Mercy General Hospital in the Cardiac Care unit, which is the area she specializes in. In addition to attending Sacramento State where she received her BSN, Colleen also attended the Academy of Health Sciences for medical laboratory technician, and learned both X-Ray and Mammography in Anchorage through a job training program offered by the local hospital. Colleen likes to find ways she can give back to nursing. This is why she is a floor representative for CNA, a member of the hospitals PPC, and spends a lot of time working with students. She's motivated by her desire to do whatever she can to improve nurse retention and she feels that the Nurse Mentor Project has the ability to do that.
Lynette Mullins
lmullins@surewest.net
Lynette has been nursing for 9 years and for the last 
three years has been working at Mercy General. Her area of specialty is ICU and she currently works in both MICU and SICU. She also has experience working in the Trauma room. Lynette received her ASN from Sacramento City College and then continued her education with the University of Phoenix where she received her BSN. It is not only the memories of her early nursing days that are motivating her to be a mentor but it is also because in those earlier days Lynnette participated in a mentor program while she was working in Hawaii and she realizes the tremendous value in the mentoring relationship.
Larry Farver
saintlarry6350@yahoo.com
Larry’s commitment to helping people is apparent by he’s fourteen years in the nursing 
profession and ten years as a group home counselor. He has worked for Mercy Health Care West since 1991 where he currently specializes in IV therapy. Larry enjoys his work and feels he has a positive impact with his patients; however things have not always been so rosy. He “had a rough time as a new grad fitting in as a floor nurse.” This caused him to feel anxious about going to work and like a failure when he left. Being one of the few male mentors, Larry looks forward to listening and encouraging in the manner that would have benefited him at the start of his nursing career using his unique background and experiences.
Cindi Fitzgerald
mikefiz@syix.com
For the last Thirteen of Cindi’s twenty-plus years in nursing she has worked in the Cardiac Care Unit at Mercy General Hospital. Not someone to stay idle Cindi earned her BSN from CSU – Dominguez Hills. This after already attending CSU – Sacramento and earning an AA from Yuba College. When not spending time with her husband/family Cindi can most likely be found working with 4-H, the Lions Club, or her Border Collies. Cindi experience being mentored as an LVN proved to be very positive and she now intends to give back and help others feel positive about nursing.
Kimberly Stevens
mstevens@surewest.net
Kimberly, a Med-Surg-Telemetry nurse at Mercy General Hospital has the experience of working at three different facilities during her fifteen-plus years in nursing. The opportunity to compare and contrast her own experiences with those of her peers and apply that knowledge to her mentoring skills will prove to be a great advantage to her mentees. When Kimberly is not either nursing or mentoring she volunteers as a weekend camp nurse for underprivileged kids and is active in her church.
Ruth Morte
For nearly ten years Ruth has been a floor nurse at Mercy General’s Med/Surg/Telemetry, PCU and CCU Rehab. Before her career in nursing Ruth was a medical claims examiner for Blue Cross of California. One of Ruth’s primary objectives in her role as mentor is to foster a greater acceptance of cultural diversity among her peers and in the process help mold successful and well-rounded career nurses.
Terre Covington
Speedystang1@hotmail.com
Terre began her nursing career at Mercy General Hospital ten years ago and has spent a majority of this time in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. Throughout her career Terre has had a multitude of mentors in various situations and found the help they provide to make her experience much more enjoyable and positive. Now, carrying this torch, she hopes to help inspire a new generation of nurses who will be proud of and enjoy their careers.
Mary Ann Wood
rohonurse@sbcglobal.net
Mary, a Critical Care nurse at Mercy General Hospital, has been a nurse for ten years. She loves the nursing profession and likes to encourage new nurses to make the transition into the working world of nursing. Mary also loves the energy of the new graduates; it helps her to understand her role in nursing.
Ashwini Chand-Kumar
ashwinirn1@aol.com
Ashwini, a Fiji born East Indian, is an Emergency Room nurse at Mercy General Hospital and has been in nursing for six years. In addition to English, Ashwini speaks Hindi, Urdy, and Punjabi. She earned her BSN from San Jose State University and is certified in the emergency room and critical care. In the role of mentor she hopes to b able to help new graduated nurses gain the confidence and love of nursing she has developed through her own experiences and from her preceptor as a new nurse.
David Rolstad
ddr6kds@sbcglobal.net
A nurse for over fourteen years, David is a recovery room nurse at Mercy General Hospital currently but has worked in areas as diverse as radiology, PCU, Med-Surg, CCU and cardiac catheter lab. His wide range of experience lends nicely to his motivation as a mentor. David sees the larger picture, the benefits to the individual as well as the organization, when it comes to lowering the anxiety and increasing the confidence of new nurses.
Angelina Davidson
adavidson86@comcast.net
While Angelina has been at MGH for a relatively short period of time, she brings 28 years of experience to the Mentor Project. Her specialty area is the Main Operating Room where she assists with a wide range of ortho, neuro-spine, laporoscopic surgeries. She has many certifications including Laser technology and Pediatric anesthesia assistance. Over the years she has also worked in Trauma, ER, PACU, and Med-Surg Nursing. She has enjoyed precepting new staff and looks forward to being a resource to new staff as a mentor at MGH.
Gina Collier
gmmanasara@hotmail.com
Gina has been a nurse for three years and started here at MGH just out of nursing school, having previously worked at Sutter in exercise physiology. During her time at MGH, she has worked in the Cardiac Interventional Unit and is now working in Cardiac Surgery ICU. She is studying for to take the CCRN soon. She is looking forward to the opportunity to support and empower RN's new to our facility.
Kevin Stone
sixstone@comcast.net
Look for a tall handsome guy with sandy blond hair and nearly always a smile on his face in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at MGH and you will find Kevin. He brings a positive attitude and a strong work ethic to everyday. He can also be found working extra shifts in Neuro Care, Mercy Wellness Clinic and Interventional Radiology. He felt that he benefited from stronger nurses who helped him when he was new to MICU and he would like to share this with new colleagues.
Kathleen Wiltse
Kmwrn13@aol.com
Kathy has been working in Cardiac Surgery ICU for the past 8 years after transferring from St. Bernadine's in Southern California. She loves the work she does and values nursing as a profession. She feels that because she entered nursing at a later stage of life, she has a lot of life experiences to share. She would like to help newly hired nurses find their fit in nursing.
Jacqueline Simpson
jakiesim@msn.com
With experience in a number of specialty areas, Jacqueline brings a rich perspective to nursing. She earned her B.S. in Nursing in Costa Rica and worked for 10 years there, before moving to New York then finally, to Sacramento. She has worked in Main OR, Pediatric OR, and now works in Oncology. She is Chemo-certified. As a foreign nurse, she faced many of the challenges that many of our new hires are now facing: Adapting to a new medical system, learning new drug names, adjusting to differences in language and culture. Many of her earlier experiences were negative and she would like to help new nurses have more positive experiences when entering the work force. She feels that she "was born to be a nurse."
Jonathan Amatong
nathan877@hotmail.com
Jonathan began his nursing career 4 years ago, after first being a CNA and ER tech/EMT. At MGH, he worked in CIU for 2 years before transferring the Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care. What motivated Jonathan to become a mentor was the desire to give guidance and motivation to new graduates and transitioning nursing. He himself felt their were many changes to adjust to when he transitioned from CNA to RN and again from Tele to ICU. In addition, adjusting to a predominantly female profession, and another culture have given him experience he would like to pass on to new staff. As he looks back, he wishes he could have had a mentor when he was a new graduate.
Velma Baldugo
baldugofamily@aol.com
As a Filipino nurse of over 25 years, Velma brings a lot of valuable experience to the profession. As an Oncology nurse, she merges strong clinical expertise and a very caring way at the bedside. She is frequently called upon to orient new staff, and works hard to make her new staff feel welcome. She was exposed to "culture shock" in her early years and felt at times that she could not go on. With little self confidence in those early years, it would have been very helpful to have a mentor to come alongside and support her. She hopes to help others build their professional confidence though the mentor project.
Bonnie Behling
oneforbonbon@yahoo.com
Bonnie has been working at MGH for 7 years in CSICU. Passionate about Cardiac Surgery, she always has enjoyed making a connection with newly hired staff and giving them the tools to succeed in their new environment. Her hope is that she will be able to help build their confidence and strengthen our nursing team. She herself had to endure a few years with staff who "ate their young" and felt that it led to more stress than was necessary. She feels that now more than ever, it is vital to nursing to create a sense of teamwork and nurture our "fledglings."
