One to Watch: Angie Arnett

Photo by Scott Holstein
One to Watch: Angie Arnett

By Wendy O. Dixon

Ten years ago, Angie Arnett, 44, began a crusade to help heal the wounded. She started out as a school nurse at Culver Military Academy in Indiana and as an agency nurse at the Indiana Department of Corrections hospital. She’s now a popular member of the health care team at Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast.

“I always knew I wanted to be a nurse,” Arnett says. “Ever since I was little, I felt it was my calling in life.”

Arnett joined Sacred Heart as a night shift nurse when the hospital opened in 2003. Now, she runs the orthopedic program as the joint replacement program coordinator, making sure her patients are comfortable before and after surgery. She says she’s just one of the members of a highly devoted team of health care providers.

“All of the orthopedic physicians are very supportive of the joint replacement program,” she says. “Teamwork and patient education are very important to the success of the program’s goal of getting the patients back on their feet and living an independent life.”

Arnett’s favorite part of her job is seeing her patients’ progression toward independence. Many come back to visit her after their recovery.

“They tell us they’re playing tennis or walking on the beach and getting back to living again,” she says. “They thank us for the great care they received and are very happy to have had their surgery done at Sacred Heart. That’s when I know that we have done our job.”