Marci Weesner: “Riley is a special place. We do some pretty amazing things for the kids in Indiana.”
By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org
For 27 years, Marci Weesner has cared for the sickest of the sick at Riley Hospital for Children.
The veteran charge nurse and clinical adviser in the pediatric intensive care unit has worked nights her entire career, even while raising three children with her husband, Wade.
Now, after nearly three decades on the PICU, Weesner has decided the time is right to move on to a new role. She will work her final three shifts in the PICU next week, then transition to a nurse navigator role with the genetics and metabolics team at Riley.
“I am ready,” she said. “The timing is good.” And, she added, “I don’t need the adrenaline rush anymore.”
She still remembers the rush from her first weeks, months and years on the job – that feeling of being in a constant state of learning and responding in critical situations.
“I knew I would never get that anywhere else with that patient population, so that’s one thing that kept me here so long,” she said.
A few of those patients and families have left their mark on her heart, she acknowledged, giving her a greater appreciation for her own family.
“Some of the outcomes were not what you wanted, but it was rewarding to take care of them,” she said. “And Riley is a special place. We do some pretty amazing things for the kids in Indiana.”
The people she has worked with also kept her in the PICU.
“The most special thing about the PICU is the teamwork,” she said. “The team is just very special.”
Leaving them will be an adjustment, but it’s one she’s ready for.
“The night shift has definitely caught up with me. It’s time.”
When she talks about teamwork, she also talks about her family at home, saying she and her husband made her night schedule work because they are a good team.
“My husband works days, so when our kids were young, I was able to get them off the bus, help them with their homework and make dinner before I left,” Weesner said.
“Then he would do the baths and bedtime routines and get them ready for school in the morning. He told many people he loved it because it allowed our kids to see that they could depend on either one of us for anything.”
Those kids are older now, two of them in college and the youngest about to enter eighth grade. The whole family is busy in the summers, raising and showing livestock. In fact, that’s where Weesner is spending her vacation this week – at the Johnson County Fair with her family.
“I love being outside,” she said. “Anyone who knows me will tell you I live for the warm weather.”
File photos by Mike Dickbernd, and submitted photos
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