My Other Life: Syncia Seguin, Nurse Manager

Syncia Seguin of St-Eugène, Ontario, Canada, worked as a front line nurse for many years before being promoted to a nurse management position in 2007. She’s responsible for supervision of daily operations, human resources, financial information, materials, risk management, and quality of care for the patients. She also plans continuing education and development for staff. Managing resources can be a challenge, but it’s one she enjoys. “We are constantly asked to do more with less,” she explains. The most difficult aspect of the job is dealing with team conflicts. “As a manager, I am put in the difficult position of having to arbitrate disputes,” says Seguin.

Seguin started doing nails after finishing her Master of Health Studies. “It was a priority for me to do something different after my academic degree, something that was ingrained inside of me for the longest time, which was to become a nail artist,” she says. After completing her certification, she studied with Montreal nail artists such as Valerie Ducharme and Marie-Ève Mongeau. To balance her two roles, she works full time as a nurse manager during the day and takes clients in the evening, seeing nail artistry as a stress reliever. Although her two jobs seem very different, Seguin sees a connection between them. “Being a nurse is similar to being a nail artist,” she explains. “You have the patient or client at heart, and you receive gratitude from both patients and clients.”