Rochelle Loseke-Wray
As clinical service manager for OneWorld Community Health Centers, Rochelle Loseke-Wray feels as if she’s where she needs to be — right in the middle of the population that she serves.
Established in 1970 as a volunteer-staffed free clinic for the underserved, OneWorld Community Health Centers provides patients with financial, cultural and linguistic barriers better access to quality health care including medical, dental, behavioral health and pharmacy.
Services are offered in English, Spanish and other languages using interpreters. Today, OneWorld is the largest provider of primary health care services in South Omaha.
From pediatrics to geriatrics, Loseke-Wray coordinates care teams and support for two of the system’s school-based health centers, one teen clinic and the Stephen Center, a facility for those who are experiencing homelessness. Working there since summer of 2020, she said the OneWorld mission is deeply meaningful and is reflected in the work done throughout the community.
“I love what I do and where I am at,” Loseke-Wray said. “We serve a lot of patients who are underserved in so many ways, and sometimes it’s hard for them to trust us. So, we try to build up that trust and deal with each barrier one at a time as we work through that particular individual’s health care issues. And when we are able to do that, it is the most rewarding part of this job.”
Loseke-Wray’s dedication, enthusiasm and passion for the profession is why she was recently recognized as a recipient of the Nurses – Heart of Healthcare award. Nominees underwent a voting process by a committee of nursing administration and faculty members at Clarkson College.
“I was so surprised and honored to have been selected,” she said. “When I found out, I read through each nurse’s nomination biography. Wow. It’s such an impressive group of nurses to just be included with them and then to be selected as a finalist is really quite humbling. There’s a lot of experience within that group of nurses.”
Rochelle Loseke-Wray receiving her Heart of Healthcare award
When Loseke-Wray first started nursing school, she described herself as an atypical student.
“I was 30 years old, married and pregnant with my first child,” she said. “I had always wanted to be a nurse because I have loved helping people my entire life. I also wanted something that was always changing, where I could learn new things. Nursing provides all of that and more.”
After her graduation in 2012, Loseke-Wray worked in the Labor and Delivery unit, where she remained for eight years.
“I loved working with the babies and the new moms,” she said, “and I wasn’t really looking for another job, but one of my former managers who had gone on to OneWorld called and asked if I’d like to try it out. So I did and have not looked back since.”
She feels she’s done her job when someone walks away from one of the clinics better than when they arrived.
“It’s a phenomenal feeling when you know you make life a little better for someone in some way,” she said. “Probably one of the biggest challenges, however, is that not all patients want to be at a clinic or a hospital and want the care you are giving them. That can be hard sometimes. It’s difficult to understand another person when you have not walked in their shoes. So, when someone is having a bad day and you happen to be the target, you can’t take it personally. You just have to keep trying.”
Her advice to prospective nurses is to take advantage of all the things the profession has to offer.
“There’s so many different career paths one can take,” she said. “I’d tell them to travel the world as a traveling nurse, work on different floors, learn as much as possible.”
The opportunities are endless.
