In this ongoing series, Paradigm is celebrating our Network Managers by highlighting a new generation of nurses who are entering this unique and fulfilling career. An exciting aspect of this is seeing family members who follow in the footsteps of parents and other relatives to make case management into a family business.

Paradigm prides itself on a supportive and collaborative work culture. These qualities are essential to helping our patients— and their families— achieve a better quality of life and providing positive outcomes in these often challenging catastrophic cases. Many team members use the word family to describe the people they work with, so it’s only natural that actual family members can be such a great fit in the case management field.

For Carol Sears, a big part of case management was always about caring for family. As a young single mother and new nurse, she saw a profession that could offer flexibility and the ability to help people. “I graduated nursing school, had a child, and became a single parent when she was still very young,” Carol says. “I saw an ad for case management, it was called rehabilitation consultation at the time, that said ‘work out of your home, company car, flexible hours.’ I definitely saw that as potentially a great opportunity.”

While there were challenges, she found the field to be as rewarding as she hoped it would be, starting her own case management business in 1993. And now today, after decades in the industry and more than 10 years with Paradigm, Carol has gotten to see her own daughter, Amanda Knowlton, develop into an experienced Network Manager.

Nursing runs in the family
Amanda actually represents the third generation of registered nurses in her family. Says Carol, “One of the biggest reasons I became a nurse was because my mother was a nurse.” In fact, even Amanda’s great grandmother was a home health aide in the days when nursing was still being formalized, so it really is a calling for the family.

At first, however, Amanda thought about taking a more independent career path. “I started off thinking, my mother is a nurse, my grandmother is a nurse: I’m going to do something different,” she explains. “I got into college and I looked into everything, from criminal law to marine biology, and eventually I found my way back to nursing on my own. It finally just seemed like the right path for me.”

Although she had a familiarity with case management from growing up around her mom, Amanda started her nursing career in the emergency room. “After spending 10 years in the ER and starting a family of my own, I started to see what drew my mom into case management,” says Amanda. With her ER and trauma background, she has the right mix of skills and experience in dealing with multiple traumas and multitasking. “It’s been about eight years since I’ve been doing case management and I’ve been with Paradigm for about three-and-a-half years now.”

Adds Amanda, “I like being helpful to people who have serious injuries, and now as a Paradigm Network Manager, I get to see a bigger picture. In the ER you only saw patients for a couple of hours, but in this job you get to know people for years and see how they recover. It’s really amazing.”

 A family business that makes a difference
As an independent case manager, Carol was introduced to Paradigm in 2009 and has seen her business grow substantially in the ensuing 10 years. “We now have nine nurses and four support staff working with us,” says Carol. Adding to the family aspect is Carol’s husband, who serves as everything from chief financial officer to IT support to driver so Carol is able to run the business and help patients while on the road.

One challenge for any family business is keeping a healthy work-life balance and not letting the job take over family time. “It’s all about finding the right boundaries,” explains Carol. “We’re a really tight knit family, both of our husbands spend time together, and we all work really hard not to talk about work on the weekends.”

They both find the advantages of working with someone who you’ve known and developed a rapport with your whole life to outweigh any of the downsides. Says Amanda, “It was definitely helpful having my mom able to guide me and mentor me in the field. There were many times where we could just call each other on cases and chat back and forth about different problems.”

And for the older generation, it’s comforting to see someone you trust and respect right behind you to carry on your legacy. “I’m at a point in my career where I need to start looking toward retirement,” explains Carol. “I’ve already approached Amanda about me stepping down one day and her learning some of the administrative and mentoring aspects of our business. Honestly, her being in the background makes me very hopeful for the future.”

As a mother and daughter nurse case manager team, both find the Paradigm experience to be almost an extension of their family. “From the time I started with Paradigm, the number one thing I’ve appreciated is the team approach,” says Carol. “I started in 1981 by myself. I didn’t have a mentor or anyone to bounce ideas off of. Now, I can pick up the phone with our Director of Clinical Services and she knows exactly what I’m talking about and can provide the right solution.” Amanda agrees, while also appreciating the continuing education opportunities and the ability to meet people across the case management spectrum.

For Carol and Amanda, being two generations of Paradigm Network Managers is rewarding on multiple levels. In addition to seeing the positive impact they have on the most seriously injured people, it has also made them appreciate what they have a little more. As Carol puts it, “It’s made me appreciate life—my time with my husband, daughter, and grandchildren. It’s been a huge eye opener.”

At Paradigm, you’ll find deep satisfaction knowing you’re making a profound difference in people’s lives. Learn more about our open positions.

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