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For as long as she can remember, Kaila MacFarlane, RN, wanted to follow in her mom’s footsteps and become a nurse.

“When I was three, I remember watching my mom get ready for work and putting on lipstick,” says MacFarlane with a smile. “I decided then that I was going to be a nurse so I could wear lipstick to work.”

As she grew older, MacFarlane’s interest in nursing matured and intensified as she heard her mom’s stories and saw the impact she made. 

Today, MacFarlane is working in her dream field as a clinical nurse educator in Unit 92 (Short-stay Cardiology) and the Catherization Lab at Foothills Medical Centre (FMC). 

In her role, she balances administrative work, such as updating guidelines and processes, education and front-line work. It’s busy, but MacFarlane relishes the impact she makes. 

“I love that in this role when I see an opportunity for improvement, I can tackle it,” she says. “I feel like I can make a difference for my colleagues and for patients.” 

MacFarlane completed her nursing degree at the University of Lethbridge with the intention of becoming an emergency nurse. However, an administrative blunder ended up altering her career direction. 

“During my final placement, they mixed up my name with another Kaila in the program,” she says. “They felt bad, so they got me a spot in the Cardiac ICU, and I ended up loving it.” 

That passion for cardiology hasn’t faded in the 11 years she’s been in the field. She worked in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at FMC for three years and has been on staff in the cath lab for eight years. 

She loves the ability to specialize, the smaller team sizes, the camaraderie and the collaborative environment that cardiology offers. But there’s something she enjoys even more. 

“I am definitely someone who likes adrenaline,” says MacFarlane with a laugh, adding cardiology fulfills her desire for a demanding, fast-paced environment. 

MacFarlane also likes splitting her time between the two units, which she says have completely different teams and demands. 

Most of all, MacFarlane loves caring for her patients and has never questioned her decision to become a nurse. 

“It’s a blessing to be there for someone’s first breath and their last breath and a privilege to get to make people’s scariest moments a little bit easier,” she says. “It’s fulfilling to help others, and I feel very lucky to have that opportunity every day.”