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Baker joined Texas Health Stephenville four years ago – though she’s been a nurse for 28 years. She works in the medical surgical department at the hospital.

“I love patient care and I love being at the bedside,” Baker said. “I just like to nurture people.”

And Baker said she feels that co-workers nurture back as well. When her son spent a year in Afghanistan, a diffcult time for her, she drew off the strength of her hospital friends. “This is a second family,” she recalled. “They took such good care of me.”

“That’s in part because Baker is always one of the frst to care for others,” said Ilda Martinez, RNC, and Medical Surgical Unit Director at Texas Health Stephenville.

“She’s been a breath of fresh air,” Martinez said. “She provides total patient care from education to clinical skills to discharge planning. She has a very quick wit about her which helps in a fast-paced area.” "Baker is quick to go above and beyond caring for her patients whether it’s securing a special movie or providing an extra dose of information to make their time at the hospital more pleasant," Martinez said.

Baker, a mother of two who has been married to her soul mate for 27 years, says that she’s always loved riding horses and was looking for a new outlet for that interest when she found Cowboy Mounted Shooting. Martinez lovingly classifes her as a “pistol-packing mama.” That the sport combined her interest in riding horses and shooting guns was an added attraction. “That makes it double fun,” Baker said. Throughout her life whether it’s working a shift treating patients at the hospital or while practicing on her horse, “I’ve been blessed with the amount of knowledge I’ve acquired and the people that have the patience to teach me different things,” Baker said.

Even better, she said, she sometimes can combine her love of nursing and the sport. “I do share with patients if I can tell they’re outdoorsy, horse people,” she said. "They think it’s pretty funny that their nurse does that in her free time.”  ECL

OPPOSITE PAGE (Top) Carrying the US fags in the parade. L-R (with fags) Linda Fuller, Pam Baker and Kate Powe. (Bottom L-R) Family at Pike’s Peak. L-R Son Alex, daughter Sara, Pam, husband Eddie and his sister Deb Foster. Pam with her ten year old dachshund, Jackson. Behind is her four year old Golden Retriever, Murdoch. Both were rescued from the pound. Pam and husband, Eddie, at their latest hobby, Triumph America. RIGHT Pam participating in an event. Baker, a mother of two who has been married to her soul mate for 27 years, says that she’s always loved riding horses and was looking for a new outlet for that interest when she found Cowboy Mounted Shooting. Martinez lovingly classifes her as a “pistol-packing mama.”