For most people, a key element of job satisfaction is the sense that their work has meaning. Edith Martin, LVN, CCHP, knows the feeling well. “I tell myself every day: I do make a difference, even if it’s just with one patient out of 4,000.”

Martin is a clinical specialist at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center in San Antonio, TX. Her primary responsibility is supervising the tuberculosis control program, which includes TB testing of inmates and staff, on average 50 to 70 people per day. She orients new cadets on the jail’s TB and hepatitis B programs, handles various managerial tasks and provides coverage in other areas of health services.

But corrections is not what Martin had in mind when she decided on a career in health care. After graduating from St. Phillips Junior College, San Antonio, in 1974, she worked in home health, hospitals and for the state until the company she worked for lost its contract. Needing a paycheck, she accepted a friend’s referral and took a job at Bexar. She recalls that her first two weeks were difficult and that she “quit every day” during that time.

Twenty-one years later Martin is still with Bexar County, but today she has a very different perspective. “There is never a dull moment. Once I think I’ve seen everything, something new happens.”

But the diverse challenges and lack of monotony are not the only reasons Martin has stayed committed to the field. She pursued and earned certification in 1997 with the encouragement of a colleague. In doing so, she realized just how much more there was to learn. Before working at Bexar, it never occurred to Martin that nurses worked in jails or prisons. Now, with years of experience and knowledge of NCCHC’s Standards, she views certification as an important step in professional education beyond one’s own department or facility.

Professional satisfaction isn’t limited to on-the-job work, of course. Recognizing how certification has benefited her, Martin enthusiastically supports the program and encourages colleagues to apply. She also has proctored regional exams twice a year for the past several years. “Don’t put it off,” she says. “It’s a source of immeasurable benefit to yourself, your facility and the correctional field.”

Martin also was one of the first to volunteer to help out at the Updates conference in San Antonio and will likely serve on the Welcome Committee. Rumor has it she’s also planning to cook soul food for some NCCHC staffers, helping us to expand our idea of job satisfaction!

— About the Author: Matissa Sammons is the certification coordinator at NCCHC.