Heather Fischetti is a proud self-proclaimed nerd. She’s also a natural nurturer — and that combination has culminated in a career spanning more than three decades.

“I just always want to learn,” says Fischetti. “I think that’s why I want to teach as well.”

Fischetti trained in her native Canada, where her grandmother had been a nurse to the Inuit population in the 1940s and ’50s. Fischetti graduated in 1987 and worked as a staff nurse in critical care units until she moved to the U.S. in 1999. She held several positions in acute and long-term care and enjoyed serving as an educator to new hires and graduates. She’s been in her current role for six years; while it started out as another staff development role, the pandemic brought a new level of responsibility.

“I had to go up a very steep learning curve through infection control,” says Fischetti, adding that while it was challenging, working during COVID also brought the entire staff closer together.

“We’ve leaned on each other, and it’s made for a very tight organization here,” she says. “I really love the people that I work with. It makes all the difference when you like to come to work.”

Fischetti’s multifaceted role allows her to work with all disciplines across the 115-bed facility, which offers specialized memory, long-term, transitional and complex cardiac care.

“I’ve got the beauty of both sides,” she says. “Now I’m in an administrative role, but I can still go to the bedside to see our residents here at Canterbury.”

UPMC honored Fischetti’s work in 2022 when she was the recipient of an ACES Award for a commitment to excellence in service. Canterbury was also recognized with a Community Provider Services Quality and Performance Improvement award for COVID mitigation. The biggest reward, however, has been the relationships she’s made and the opportunity to continue to learn and grow in an area of nursing she loves — a field she hopes more students consider.