Each week, #SpanningtheNeed will present an “Inspirational Person of the Week’ and have a “Q & A” with one of its many gifted individuals and/or groups who are willing to go out of their own way to help others. This week’s featured is Jenn Knight from Daiichi Sankyo.
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Name: Jenn Knight
Position: Oncology Clinical Educator
Organization: Daiichi Sankyo
Bio
Wife, Sister, Aunt, Cousin, Daughter-in-Law, Niece, Friend, Volunteer, Nurse. Jenn carries many hats in her life. All equally important to her. She has been married for 15 years to her husband, Brian, who is the Superintendent of Liberty Local Schools. Jenn graduated from YSU in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree of Science- Nursing, cum laude. She has worked in a variety of healthcare settings, academic and community and specializes in Cardiothoracic Surgery, Oncology, Clinical Research and currently as a Healthcare Educator.
What made you want to go into this field?
To help people. To make a difference in someone’s life.
What’s the biggest factor that has helped you be successful?
Goal-setting
What is the biggest professional mistake you made along the way?
Making assumptions that all healthcare professionals carry the same ethics and values that I do.
What is the hardest decision you ever had to make in this field?
Respecting my mother’s wishes in her Living Will.
If you could start all over again, what would you do differently regarding your profession?
Pursue a masters degree for Advanced Nurse Practitioner.
What inspires you to do good in our community?
I have been blessed with an amazing tribe of people who have supported and loved me through one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. I want to pay that support and love forward.
What do you enjoy most about volunteering in our community?
Meeting new people and educating the community on heart health.
What song best describes you or is the soundtrack to your life?
“Fight Song” Rachel Platten
What is your best accomplishment/experience in life?
My marriage. We are each other’s biggest support and provide each other a safe space to share our achievements and failures.
Who is your role model and Why?
Dr. Pyongsoo Yoon, Cardiothoracic Surgeon, UPMC. Not only is he the most gifted surgeon, he cares. He cares about his family, his surgery team, his residents/fellows, and his patients. He is educating our future heart surgeons on their surgical skill set and leading them by his example of caring.
If there was one person that you would like to meet, past or present and why?
JFK- I would love to discuss his ability on how he brought people together to achieve his goals for the US.
A favorite quote that you live by?
“In the great scheme of things, it does not matter how long you live, but why you live and what you stand for”. -Emerson
