Deborah Steele, Nurse Recruiter
That Deborah was a high school cheerleader will come as no surprise to those who have worked with her over the years at what was originally NC Baptist Hospital. Her enthusiasm is evident in all aspects of her her job and for all those who are lucky to know her. From a very young age, it was nursing that interested Deborah, and so she enrolled and graduated from NC Baptist School of Nursing. She worked as a Recovery Room nurse part time while completing her BSN at night. When she completed her BSN she took the job as a nurse recruiter. In that role, she found herself traveling all over the world and setting up recruitment fairs to find the best and most qualified nurses. After the merger of NC Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest School of Medicine, Deborah became the director of recruiting for all departments in the new organization. Later followed a position of facilitating new employee orientation, a post she held for nine years. She served as the hospital’s diversity coordinator before that role evolved into its own department. Retiring after a long and gratifying career left her feeling bored, until a call from a vice president asked her to return to the hospital, to resume her earlier role as a nurse recruiter, a request she gladly accepted. Her face lights up as she recalls the people she’s helped bring to the new Atrium Baptist Wake Forest organization. “I always had a heart for nursing,” she says. “And helping bring the best nurses—both locally and internationally— to work here is another way I can make our nursing team the very best.” Now working with newer recruiters, she offers up how the ultimate test for hiring is this: Never hire anyone you wouldn’t want to take care of your family.
