ANA Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation® Spotlight: Tangela Jones-Kelly, RN, BSN, CCM
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Nurse champions healthy habits for herself and others
For #healthynurse Tangela Jones-Kelly, caring for others comes naturally — it’s what she was born to do.
“As far back as I can remember, I loved helping and caring for animals and people,” she says.
When she was 7 years old, Tangela had a conversation with her aunt that cemented her future career path.
“I saw that my aunt and I were very similar in the way we took care of others,” she says. “I asked her what she did for a living, and she said she was a nurse. I knew right then what I was meant to do.”
Tangela’s caregiving spirit is a perfect fit for a career in nursing. She loves her current role as a telephonic nurse care manager at Humana. Tangela helps people manage their medical care, including doctor’s appointments, medications, and insurance benefits.
She also serves as a Humana Well-Being Champion. Champions support the health of their colleagues by sharing resources, tips, and challenges and modeling healthy lifestyle habits.
A Surprise Diagnosis
While she’s always excelled in taking care of others, Tangela admits she didn’t focus as much on her own health and well-being.
“I always thought of myself as a healthy person,” she says. “I exercised and I didn’t smoke or drink alcohol. Unfortunately, I didn’t consider how my food choices affected my body and health. I love carbs and sugar, and I snacked all the time. Until one day, my body said: Enough.”
After a routine physical and blood test, Tangela discovered she had metabolic syndrome (also known as insulin resistance) and chronic kidney disease (CKD).
“It snuck up on me,” she says. “It was a shock, but I realize now that I had the signs and symptoms.”
Metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk of conditions like CKD, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, affects up to 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. People with metabolic syndrome typically have 3 or more of the following conditions:
- Abdominal obesity
- High blood sugar
- High triglycerides
- Hypertension
- Low HDL cholesterol
Committing to Change
Tangela says her startling diagnosis was a wake-up call to focus on her health.
“I learned as much as I could about metabolic syndrome and what I needed to do to reverse it,” she says.
For Tangela, the answers were daily exercise and an overhaul of her eating habits.
“The first thing I did was put on my Fitbit,” she says. “I committed to Humana’s 100 Day Dash, a company-wide step challenge. I walked 10,000 steps every day for 100 days.”
By the end of the program, Tangela says both her blood sugar and blood pressure levels decreased. This achievement motivated her to continue walking 10,000 steps each day. In the past 2 years, Tangela has only missed 4 days due to illness.
Her next challenge was to change her diet.
Small Steps Have an Impact
“I started slowly,” she says. “Losing weight was always difficult, so I didn’t focus on the numbers on the scale. I focused on decreasing other numbers, like my C-reactive protein (CRP) level, which was too high.”
A high CRP level indicates inflammation in the body, which increases the risk of serious diseases. “My body was mad at me,” Tangela says. “To make it happy, I started to cut out processed food.”
Change didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen — and Tangela’s health continued to improve.
“My path to better health isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon,” she says. “Cutting out processed foods and sugar was the start. After that, I explored which foods, vitamins, and herbs would help reverse my condition. I became a self-taught healthy food chef.”
Healthier Habits Lead to a Fulfilling New Role
Because she cares about the health and well-being of others, Tangela began sharing her newfound healthy tips and recipes with her team at work. Her manager urged her to take the next step and apply for the volunteer role of Well-Being Champion.
After receiving her acceptance, Tangela became one of more than 200 Champions within Humana. Champions lead teams of coworkers in health challenges, coordinate fitness programs, and share words of encouragement.
Tangela was assigned a team of 250 people to coach, inspire, and support. She took to her new role right away and realized she was in her element.
“I’m so thankful for that nudge from my manager because I never saw myself as a symbol of health and well-being,” Tangela says. “I felt like, if I’m struggling with a health condition, how can I help someone else who is struggling, too?”
Yet, she was surprised — and delighted — to discover that sharing her personal health story with authenticity inspired others to make healthy changes.
“Being vulnerable, showing people my own challenges and the steps I take to overcome them, has helped others in similar situations,” she says. “They realize they don’t have to be perfect. They can start small and make steady changes like I did.”
Tangela says the responsibility of encouraging others to achieve their wellness goals keeps her motivated to maintain her healthy lifestyle. “I feel accountable to the people I support,” she says.
Self-Care Helps Us Help Others
During the 2 years she has been a Champion, Tangela has led several health talks during town hall meetings for 600 colleagues.
“Every time, it humbles me to know that my story and experience resonates with people,” she says.
For fellow nurses and health care colleagues struggling with health challenges, Tangela offers some heartfelt advice: “Don’t be hard on yourself. Give yourself the same respect you would give a loved one. Care for yourself as you would care for them. Because once you feel better, you can better help others.”
Tangela Jones-Kelly, RN, BSN, CCM, is a telephonic nurse care manager and well-being champion for Humana.
Have you helped yourself or others achieve better health? Share your #healthynurse story with us in the comments!
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Blog #healthynurse Spotlight
02/03/2025 5:19pm CST
The #healthynurse Spotlight is a shout out to nurses who are making changes in their lives to improve their health and wellness. You can too! Read their stories for inspiration here.
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