Lucas Haffely’s approach to his job is simple: just be empathetic.

“That’s a golden rule in nursing,” says Haffely, who worked in the ICU before segueing into interventional radiology. “How would you want to be cared for if you were sick? How would you want to be treated? Throw everything out the window, try to make them comfortable and just be human — that’s how I approach my job. If you were with a friend or a family member and they were sick, what would you do to make them feel better?”

In his current position, Haffely performs minimally invasive diagnostic procedures, such as CT scan-guided biopsies, a role that allows him to see patients progress from diagnosis through treatment.

“You feel like you’re making a difference,” he says. “You see them through the continuation of what they’re going through.”

Haffely is applying his approach in a hospital setting close to where he was raised and currently lives, and that offers a community feel he finds appealing and in alignment with his more personal nursing style. Standardization of health care can lead to certain disadvantages, he says.

“What I want when I’m sick is completely different from what you want when you’re sick,” says Haffely. “Good bedside nurses can make treatment plans more specific to patients.”

Haffely says as a nurse, the idea that you don’t take your work home is unrealistic. The key to avoiding fatigue, he says, is to focus on understanding each unique patient perspective rather than dwelling on the negative.

“You don’t have to feel bad for people — just put yourself in their shoes.”