Transplant Nurses Week Spotlight: Corinne Reyes Mercado, RN

Corinne Reyes Mercado, a mother of three who could best be described by those who know her best as a caring, funny, and creative soul with a love of crafting. Like many of us she chooses to unwind after a long day at work watching something lighthearted that makes you laugh like The Office or Below Deck. She also enjoys taking some time to be with nature, going on long walks and taking in the beauty of the trees or rivers that are around her.
However, Corinne doesn’t have a regular nine to five career, in fact for the past twenty years she hasn’t had what any of us would call a regular job. Corinne is a Transplant Nurse working with children and adolescents at Stanford Children’s Health – Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Before becoming a transplant nurse Corinne was considering taking time away from nursing and spending more time to be with her family. But after hearing about Stanford Children’s new transplant program, her plans changed. “Something ignited in me, another surge of inspiration. I knew I had to be a part of it,” says Reyes Mercado. “It was scary but learning all this new knowledge and skills to best help our patients really just renewed my core of nursing”.
Any healthcare worker will tell you that their job has its rewarding moments, but for Corinne it’s getting to spend time connecting with the families she works with and seeing her patients get healthier. Hearing the news about her patient receiving a transplant and assisting with their recovery afterwards and then seeing them go home is the most rewarding feeling. What most people don’t think about is the other side to working in transplant, “It’s a double-edged sword, knowing that the higher up the patient gets on the waiting list, also means their health has declined,” says Reyes Mercado. “It’s hard sometimes knowing that someone else had to pass for this organ to be given to our patient. For each of my patients, I take a moment of silence before going into their room and tell myself that my intention is to help and heal. I also thank the person who donated this organ to help another live on.”
When asking Corinne what she wants the public to know about her hospitals transplant program and how organ donation affects it, she responded with “It’s a miracle really! Organ donation helps give patients a second chance at life and at healing. I wish more people would sign up to be donors. Seeing Donate Life’s informative videos just shows how amazing that one person could save so many lives.” When someone is considering registering as an organ donation, she implores people to do their research and look at the resources available to them. “Talk to the experts,” says Reyes Mercado, as a Pre-Pandemic volunteer at Donate Life’s Run Corinne is all too familiar with the organizations support and education regarding the organ donation community. She’s even seen some of her former patients while volunteering!
Before ending our interview, Corinne wished to leave us with this advice:
“I love my job, but I’m afraid for the future of nursing. A nursing shortage is being feared in the next decade, and I want people to know of the wonderful moments and achievements nursing can have. Helping people at their most vulnerable, encompasses my job and its really rewarding to help others at those moments. I hope this pandemic doesn’t deter people away from the profession. Without nurses, hospital structures would crumble without the bedside manner and support they offer.”