Degree: BS 2015
Nestled along the Deschutes River and surrounded by the stunning Cascade Mountains to the west, Bend, Oregon boasts a uniquely beautiful blend of arid landscapes, pine forests and volcanic rock formations that make it a popular destination for outdoor sports enthusiasts. But the relatively isolated and spacious city saw its population explode during the Covid pandemic thanks to mass relocation by people from more populous urban areas seeking less crowded environs.
Bend is not far from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs reservation. This made working at the city’s only hospital, St. Charles Bend, a particular challenge for nurses, not least because of the need for special cultural sensitivity and understanding of the highly specific needs of patients.
One of the nurses who was on hand during the pandemic in Bend is Tristan Groot, whose personal and professional journey embodies the sense of dedication that has helped nursing survive one of its greatest modern challenges. Informed by her own experience of family trauma, Groot played a leading role in providing culturally sensitive care to Native American patients.
Right: Tristan Groot in front of the Intensive Care Unite Sign at her workplace in St. Charles Bend hospital.
“It’s essential to honor their beliefs and practices,” Groot explains, adding that Native American people believe that if you pass away indoors, your soul becomes trapped. “We took patients outdoors to pass away, surrounded by family, during the pandemic,” she recalls. “It was a powerful experience.”
While Groot embraced the challenges of working in the high-demand setting of a large hospital during an extended medical crisis, she quickly recognized the pervasive issue of nurse burnout—a problem that intensified during the pandemic. Witnessing colleagues leave the profession in droves, she felt an urgency to advocate for change and become involved in Shared Governance, a board of elected nurses dedicated to improving workplace conditions and patient care.
Groot’s determination, and the hospital’s embrace of her ideas, led to the development of The Right Stuff project, aimed at revamping the charting system to better serve nurses’ needs. By advocating for a simpler system that allows nurses to chart less frequently and more meaningfully, Groot hopes to revitalize the profession and retain talented caregivers at the bedside.
As chair of the hospital’s ICU committee, Groot took on the role of a leader, initiating projects aimed at improving the efficiency of nursing processes, particularly around charting—an area that too often consumed valuable time better spent with patients. “Nurses should have a say in how they practice,” she argues. “We need to streamline charting to ensure that we can focus on what really matters—our patients.”
Born and raised in Mission Viejo, California, Groot’s journey to becoming a bedside nurse was anything but conventional. Having obtained a degree in Zoology from Washington State University in 2009, she initially took a detour into education, becoming a full-time high school science lab teacher at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in her Orange County hometown. Yet, despite her success as an educator, she felt an unfulfilled yearning—a calling to a profession that would allow her to make a more profound impact on people’s lives.
Groot’s decision to shift gears and pursue nursing was influenced by her family legacy. With a mother and grandmother who both wore
I want to show we can make nursing fulfilling again.
nursing scrubs, she was drawn to the profession, hoping to find both personal and professional satisfaction. She enrolled at the University of California, Irvine where, through sheer determination and a bit of luck—having previously worked for the professor who authored her anatomy textbook—she was accepted into the Sue & Bill Gross Nursing Program (now the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing). Her hard work paid off when she was named Student of the Year in 2015.
Groot’s nursing career began at Mission Hospital, where she worked as a bedside nurse in the ICU from 2015 to 2017. It was at this time that she faced a harrowing personal challenge: While working a night shift in September 2016, she received the news that her sister had been critically injured in a car accident in Oregon. The gravity of her injuries—a traumatic brain injury that required extensive surgery and rehabilitation—motivated Groot to relocate to Oregon in 2017, living in a trailer outside her sister’s hospital in Eugene for two months until she was temporarily transferred to a hospital in Colorado for further treatment.
“I believe in separating personal and professional life,” Groot says, reflecting on the difficult balancing act. “But I knew I wanted to be closer to her, and that drove my decision to move to central Oregon and work in a Level 2 ICU at St. Charles Hospital in Bend.”
Groot’s sister’s accident proved to be a crucial turning point, reinforcing her commitment to nursing and the importance of being present for patients during their most vulnerable moments. She understood first hand the fragility of life and the importance of compassionate care.
Groot’s personal journey in nursing also shaped her professional path in a profound sense. “That experience taught me that this is my forever job,” she reflects. “I want to protect this profession and give my colleagues hope, to show them that we can make nursing fulfilling again.”
As ICU Department Practice Council Chair, Groot is also helping to negotiate a plan to align with new state staffing laws. With a schedule that combines such administrative tasks with three days a week in the ICU, Groot embodies the spirit of resilience, fulfillment and nursing advocacy that is the core of the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing’s values. Her story is not just one of personal triumph; it’s also a call to action for all nurses to reclaim their joy in the profession, to foster a community that supports one another, and to ensure that every bedside experience is as meaningful as it can be.
“I really enjoy being a bedside nurse for so many reasons, but my passion project is doing what can I do to protect my co-workers and keep them there,” she says. “As nurses, we have to celebrate each other and give them hope, so we have control over how we practice and don’t leave the profession but stay by our patients—and each other.”
Tristan Groot spoke with writer Nicholas Schou.
