Before Kaitlyn Shake represented Stratford in the Connecticut General Assembly, she was a nurse.
She still is.
Shake has more than a decade of experience caring for women and children as a frontline healthcare worker, giving her a firsthand perspective on the challenges facing nurses and other healthcare professionals.
In July, Shake brought that experience to ongoing conversations about workplace safety in Connecticut healthcare facilities.
She joined fellow legislators at a press conference concerning workplace safety at a healthcare facility in Middletown and participated in a Connecticut Nurses Association town hall focused on workplace violence.
Violence against nurses and other healthcare workers has become a serious concern for the people responsible for caring for patients in hospitals and other healthcare settings.
For Shake, these discussions bring together two parts of her life: healthcare and public service.
Legislators regularly hear testimony from workers, advocates, employers, and experts when considering public policy. Having lawmakers who also understand these workplaces from personal experience can bring an important perspective to those conversations.
Shake serves on the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee, Public Safety and Security Committee, and Human Services Committee — assignments that intersect with many of the workforce, safety, and healthcare issues she encounters as a nurse.
Her experience is also a reminder that our representatives bring more than a political party or title with them to Hartford. They bring the careers, families, communities, and life experiences that shaped them before they were elected.
The Stratford Democratic Town Committee is proud to have a representative who understands firsthand what it means to care for others and to stand alongside Connecticut’s healthcare workers as they advocate for safer workplaces.
Our nurses spend their careers protecting and caring for us.
They deserve to feel safe while doing their jobs.