Spotlight on Home Health Nurse Administrator Holly Mills

Holly Mills, RN
Administrator for St. Joseph’s/Candler Home Health – Savannah division

Nurse since 2007 and with SJ/C Home Health since 2010

SJ/C: Why did you decide to become a nurse?

Holly: It’s one of those things when I look back at my life I can see little signs all along, but it didn’t hit me until I was in college a couple of years that I wanted to be a nurse. While in college, my mom pointed out to me how much I enjoy learning medical knowledge and helping others. It was then that I began to pursue my nursing degree. Now to look back at my life, I can see the little signs that were sprinkled throughout, leading me to where I am today in my career. Nursing is such a rewarding field. It has challenges as with any field, but very rewarding.

SJ/C: Why did you choose St. Joseph’s/Candler?

Holly: I’m from Savannah. I’ve lived here most of my life, except for when I lived in Atlanta for 10 years. St. Joseph’s/Candler feels like home. I was born at Candler Hospital. It’s home and familiar for me. The health system has a great relationship with its co-workers and this really lifts everyone up. I really appreciate that.

SJ/C: What are some of your responsibilities in your current role?

Holly: In my current role, I manage about 19 staff to include nurses, home health aides and speech therapists. I thoroughly enjoy my role as manager because I love being able to support my team.  We see patients in an environment that is not a controlled setting. My goal is to make sure they are well supported and always have what they need to be able to provide the best care to our patients. 

SJ/C: What do you love about your job?

Holly: I started out at St. Joseph’s/Candler Home Health Care as a field nurse, and I fell in love with the ability to get to know patients and their families in their home environments. Being able to bridge that gap between acute hospitalization so they can recover at home is very beneficial for patients. I loved being able to educate patients and families on their disease processes, and how to manage those at home.  Home health nurses also provide a lot of wound care. Being able to see a patient through the process of an acute wound to a healed wound is very rewarding. In my current role, I now get to coach my field staff in home health care. I love being there for them, and seeing the staff grow is really rewarding.

SJ/C: What do you think it says about our health system that we offer home health care, that we want to continue care even when you are at home?

Holly: It’s so important to bridge that gap. Patients may have this new disease process going on or a new exacerbation of a diagnosis that they have, and they may need help understanding and managing that at home. It’s so important to have the ability to have health care in the home; to bridge that gap; to make sure their health is improving at home and not getting worse. I always tell patients that we are an extra set of eyes and ears on you to make sure that you are getting better, and we can communicate how they are doing at home to their physician. 

SJ/C: What advice would you share with new nurses or those considering a career in nursing?

Holly: The great thing about nursing is you get to provide that one-on-one care for that patient and see an outcome. I go back to wounds because we do a lot of wounds in home health, but you get to see this acute wound heal. That’s really rewarding. The best part of nursing to me is you get to hopefully see a reward of making a difference in someone’s life while they are under your care, during what may be a difficult period for them. 

Family: Married for 22 years. We have two sons, Gavin, 14 and Aiden, 10, and our Labradoodle, Milly
Hobbies/Interests: Travel, activities with family