Beyond the Bedside: A Look at Spartans in Nursing | Page 11

From Attorney to Nurse,
It Has Always Been
about the Vulnerable
Mark Twichel’s concern for the vulnerable found
expression in his first career as an attorney. He
worked to protect the civil rights of the elderly
and those with disabilities or mental illness,
first with an agency and then in solo practice.
Probate judges called on him in difficult cases
to assume guardianship for those who needed
a care coordinator and decision maker.
One night, he got a call from the hospital
recommending removal of life support for
one of his clients. Humbled by the weight of
that decision, he went to the hospital and held
Willie’s hand until he passed.

After completing the College of Nursing’s
accelerated option BSN, Twichel packed two
years’ worth of clinical experience into one,
working multiple nursing jobs in a variety of
settings. It was then that he got the “travel
bug.” He headed west, taking short-term
emergency department assignments in
Texas and Arizona. While staying with older
friends, he unexpectedly became a caregiver
on the home front and experienced caregiving
from the family perspective. Along the way
he gathered certifications in healthcare
software systems as well as critical and
emergency care.

From attorney to nurse, and from nurse to nurse leader, Mark
Twichel has put his passion and expertise to work for the most
vulnerable among us. As clinical nurse supervisor for emergency
services, he brings his vast knowledge and experience to
the bedside and beyond to impact the work setting for team
members and patients alike.

The path to leadership was also a journey.
When recruited to a management position,
Twichel reports, “I was very reluctant to step
away from the bedside and all the intrinsic
rewards of providing direct patient care.”
But he has long been guided by the words of
Wayne Dyer, “When you change the way you
look at things; the things you look at change.”
He took the job, realizing, “I am a Spartan
Nurse. A nurse leader. And I was called to
it. Now, by caring for and advocating for
nurses, I have the opportunity to impact
650,000 lives served by our ER. My sphere of
influence has expanded exponentially.”

Using Collaboration
to Put Passion and
Experience to Work

A JOURNEY TO NURSE LEADERSHIP

How Nurse Leadership
Expands Impact
into the Extraordinary

More short-term assignments took
him to San Diego, where Twichel
serves as clinical supervisor
and charge nurse at the Kaiser
Permanente Zion Medical Center’s
emergency department.

He is working to implement
initiatives that improve metrics
AWARDS
such as “door-to-doc” time,
Good Catch Award, Kaiser Permanente, 2015
meeting meaningful use criteria,
Customer Service Award, Emergency Care Physician Services, 2012
and removing workplace barriers
ACE Award, Spectrum Health, 2012
to efficiency and safety. To
achieve these goals he creates
team assignments which remove work silos
Years later, he came to understand that the best
and promote a culture of collaboration to
part of his job was holding the hands of the
maximize patient care.
people who needed him. It was in that moment
when Twichel decided to become a nurse.

He describes himself as a beneficiary of the
legacy of MSU’s amazing nursing education.
“Now several years into my career I have
come to understand the quality of the people
I encountered. They inspired me to do more,
be more. We are Spartan Nurses, and we are
decidedly different. The obligation I feel to do
more and lead comes from that connection.”
Twichel sees nursing leadership as the
unspoken crisis in nursing. Encouraging
and inspiring young nurses to go beyond
the bedside to leadership is also part of his
commitment to the profession.

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF NURSING • NURSING.MSU.EDU

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