Director Nursing
Dale Jeffries knew at a very young age he wanted a career in nursing. At the age of sixteen he worked at FauquierHospital as an orderly in the medical/surgical unit after school, on the weekends, and during the summer. Directly out of high school he attended ShenandoahUniversity and earned a degree in nursing.
After college graduation he started working as a registered nurse at FauquierHospital. He worked the night shift as a “floater” working in every department of the hospital wherever he was needed. His desire was to be an emergency room nurse. Dale said the older nurses took good care of him, “watching over and training him.”
Dale eventually moved to the emergency room where he made a difference in the lives of many people. Including the time he worked as an orderly, Dale worked at FauquierHospital for thirty-two years. Five of those years he had the position of nursing shift supervisor, then for fifteen years he worked as Director of Emergency Nursing Services, and two years he was in clinical education but continued “hands-on” with patients in the intensive care and medical/surgical units.
Needing a change after working for thirty-two years at FauquierHospital, Dale started a new career as Director of Urgent Care at Inova Health Systems. In his work there, he continued to see patients as well as conduct occupational health and pre-employment physicals and drug screenings.
Dale remained as Director for five years until his position was eliminated, forcing him to seek new employment elsewhere.
Almost three months ago, Dale joined the team here at Gainesville Health and Rehab as the new Fairview Unit Manager of Nursing. He is not completely new to long-term care; he has experience working many years ago simultaneously with his nursing position at FauquierHospital with an agency that provided care for long-term care patients.
Commenting on his new position here at GHRC, Dale said, “I really like it here and I am very impressed with the staff and their abilities.” Committed to doing his best, Dale describes himself as a hard worker, expecting others to work just as hard. Dale said, “Even though I am a supervisor, I don’t mind getting my hands dirty and helping staff with work flow.” Naturally caring and compassionate, Dale maintains a very approachable attitude and a good rapport with staff and residents.
Always committed and passionate about his nursing career, Dale is currently working on a master’s degree in nursing at GeorgeMasonUniversity in the RN to MSN bridge program.
Born and raised in FauquierCounty, Dale makes his residence there with his wife, Patty, and son, Christopher. Dale has two more sons, Doug and Jeremy, and one grandson. A self-described “diehard Redskins fan” Dale enjoys watching football in his “spare” time. He also likes to watch college basketball games. Passionate about cooking, Dale loves to watch the Food Network Channel, learning new recipes to make for his family. He looks forward to cooking on the weekends and also at Thanksgiving when he makes the entire meal for his family. But the thing he loves the most is spending time with his family and enjoying his home life, saying he and his family are “homebodies.”
We welcome Dale as a great addition to the GHRC management team!
By Karen Barrett, Activity Assistant