Employee interview brings a career— and an organization’s programs—to life

Karen Diaz is a patient care technician at the organization’s Baystate Medical Center cardiac unit. Her life, and her career as a nurse, are the subject of an emotionally charged video that’s won first place in the “Video Interviews” category of Ragan’s 2015 Employee Communications Awards.

Diaz immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico with her family when she was five years old. In high school, she participated in a program from Baystate Health that let her shadow nurses. That program sparked Diaz’s interest in nursing. 

She pursued a career as a certified nursing assistant, with Baystate covering the cost of the certification. Baystate gave her an internship that eventually led to her current role.
 
Diaz also notes she was able to buy her first home through a Baystate program (reminding employees of the value of their benefits).

The interview is told in the first person, with Diaz talking in front of a pure white background; her account is interspersed with images from her early youth in Mexico, and her life growing up in the United States. At an emotional moment, her mother also appears in the interview, the two sharing a meaningful (and brilliantly captured) look. 

The video captured 2,000 views by employees, and with no external promotion has been seen more than 500 times externally on YouTube. 

Baystate’s CEO showed the video at a presentation at American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, to demonstrate to the ethnically diverse student body how local students can succeed in healthcare careers. 

Congratulations to Patricia Gagnon, Charlie Breguet, and Kent Spiry for their outstanding work producing this video interview.