Sandra Zecevic’s Story
Long before Sandra Zecevic was an assistant nurse manager at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center, she was a little girl growing up on the Adriatric Coast in Split, Croatia, the former Yugoslavia. She borrowed supplies and empty containers from her pediatrician’s office and played nurse, yearning to pursue her dream to care for patients.
Civil war broke out in Yugoslavia when Zecevic was a teenager. Her family fled to Serbia, where they lived as refugees before emigrating to the United States. But war would not disarm her dreams. Today, Zecevic is one of the more than 440 nurses at UH Parma Medical Center who pursue their passion of caring for patients.
The multicultural staff features a range of bilingual nurses, including those who speak Russian, Hungarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Polish and French.
“Sandra has the passion of caring from a lifelong goal she set at a young age,” says Chief Nursing Officer Julia Mason RN, BSN, MBA. “She is compassionate and understands those patients who are immigrants through the many struggles she has faced personally. I believe that because of her background, she now takes the time to truly understand a person’s needs.”
With Yugoslavia splintered into six different countries, Zecevic watched people who lived, worked and played together become enemies. Like many families, hers had to leave nearly everything they had behind when they left for Serbia. Her grandmother was injured fleeing from their village of Otisic and became her first patient. Transferred to different hospitals with a poor prognosis, Zecevic saw how a bad concussion, brain bleed and amnesia affected her Baba.
“My Baba became the first person I really needed to care for,” says Zecevic of Parma. “The road I have traveled made me a better nurse. I can relate to the homeless, to language barriers, to caregivers and caring for patients with dementia and other challenging conditions.”
One year after her mother immigrated to Cleveland, Zecevic and her father followed, and her brother joined them later. Her parents had a small apartment off York Road and worked in factories at night. Zecevic enrolled in an ESL (English as a Second Language) course at Valley Forge High School, where she worked hard to learn English, study and make friends. She graduated with honors and enrolled in Cleveland State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2001. Her first nursing job was at Bedford Hospital and she came to UH Parma Medical Center in 2007, initially working as a staff nurse on the floor she now helps manage.
“I am passionate about caring for my patients, my employees and the great team we have here,” Zecevic says. “While part of my heart is always where I came from, and I am very proud of my Serbian heritage, I am also truly proud of UH Parma Medical Center and our community. I am thankful to my family, friends and most of all God for guiding me, supporting me and giving me an opportunity to do what I love to do.”