Just Like Coming Home: Monique Salois Blais

When Monique Salois Blais was 46, she decided she didn’t want to be a stay-at-home mother anymore. With a bachelor’s degree in psychology in her back pocket, she started researching what career path she wanted to take. Her decision? Nursing.

“I wanted something where I could actually touch people’s lives one person at a time, which is my strength,” says Blais, a registered nurse who provides postoperative care on the medical surgical floor at Beaufort Memorial. “I connect better that way. People confide in me because they can tell me things that maybe they can’t tell a family member, and they know it’s not going anywhere. It’s just going to stay between the two of us.”

After Blais completed her nursing program, she tried different areas of the field, searching for her perfect fit. She first tried wound care and hospice before finding what she loves on the medical surgical floor.

“I like that every day is different,” Blais says. “It doesn’t matter if I have the same patients as I did the day before. It’s still going to be a different day. I like to interact with my patients, and I like working with adults. The medical surgical department may not be for everybody, but for me, it’s my comfort level. It’s what I like to do.”

Read More: Why Become a Nurse?

Coming Home to Beaufort

Blais and her husband relocated to Beaufort to be near the coast thanks to a recommendation from their daughter’s friend.

“We came to Beaufort and explored,” Blais says. “We loved it so much we decided to move here, and we were lucky enough to find a home where we can see the tides. It’s beautiful. I wake up every morning and say, ‘I live in paradise.’ When I come home, no matter how bad of a day I have had, I live in paradise. I love it here.”

Blais is no stranger to coastal living. She grew up in Rhode Island and spent her summers at the bay and the ocean.

“Being in Beaufort is just like coming back home,” she says. “I moved here from Colorado, and even though Colorado has waterways, it’s not the ocean. In our break room at the hospital, we have a lovely view with a window that looks out onto the Beaufort River. I try to sit in there on my breaks and watch the sailboats, and every morning when we have our meetings, we all look out there to see the sunrise over the river.”

The Beauty of It All

The best part about working at Beaufort Memorial for Blais? The beauty of Beaufort, her patients and the medical surgical nursing team.

As Blais says, “If you’re looking for a place to work, you want to live in paradise, and you want a great work experience, come to Beaufort Memorial.”

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