May 18, 2022

Meet Shannon Clouse 

Nurse Supervisor - Foot & Ankle

Where are you from?

I have lived my entire life in the St Louis area.

What brought you to Washington University Orthopedics? 

Shortly after finishing nursing school, I started working on the BJH Ortho floor - back when it was 7300. I fell in love with ortho from the very beginning. One of the nurses that I had worked with on 7300 left the floor to come to WashU Ortho as Dr. Jeff Johnson's nurse. After working with him for a year or so, she decided that she wanted to take a research position. She had tremendous respect for Dr. Johnson and wanted to make sure that he had a nurse that would work well with him, so she recruited me off the floor. That was December 1999 and the rest is history. I had the opportunity to work with one of the kindest men in the world and one of the most knowledgeable and well-respected surgeons in his field for 20 years. As our service grew, my responsibilities grew along with it. I started as staff nurse, then moved to nurse coordinator, and now am currently nurse supervisor for foot and ankle. 

What is your favorite thing to do outside of work?

Spending time with my family and planning trips. I absolutely love when I can combine those two! 

What's the best advice you've ever received? 

My parents always told my sister and I that we could do whatever we set our minds to. That was very empowering. The other is a quote by Harold S. Geneen that Jean Szerzinski gave me at a time when my responsibilities with my service were increasing. It goes, "Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions." I have been incredibly fortunate in ortho to have worked under two service chiefs and two nurse administrators that have exemplified this for me.

If you weren't in health care, what would you like to be doing?

I have never considered being anything other than a nurse. As my role has morphed over the years, though, I have come to realize that one of the aspects that I love so much about nursing is the patient education portion. I guess if I had to do anything else in my life, I would probably teach.

Anything else you would like to share? 

My husband Bill, and I have been married for 23 years (one year more than I have been with the department). We have 3 amazing kids, Abby (21), Travis (17), and Audrey (14) who are my world. Most of the last 10+ years of our lives have centered around our kids and their activities. The older two are now out of that stage of their lives, our son having just finished his final football season for his senior year of high school last fall. Our youngest plays basketball, volleyball, and pole vaults, so she is still keeping us quite busy. We have two furbabies, both rescues from Stray Rescue, Bruno and Brandy. We love them dearly. Our family loves to vacation! Our vacations are always planned around places where we can hike, fish, and white-water raft. We love the mountains! I really enjoy finding fun things to do in areas that are not necessarily considered go-to vacation spots. Last year, we went to Glenwood Springs, CO. We did not get to raft due to a mudslide into the canyon, but we did get to bike about 20 miles of the Rio Grande Trail, which was amazing. This summer we are planning a trip to the Cumberland Gap KY/TN area.

Learn why patient's choose Washington University Orthopedics, or request an appointment with a specialist.