Community Magazine June 2021

58 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Woman Woman to One on One with ELLEN GELLER KAMARAS “Why am I an effective nurse? I treat everyone with dignity and respect. That’s what my parents modeled for us. There is no secret to success. I have Hashem on my side. Do the best you can, help whoever you can and be a good person.” Shany Shaharabany - Shany I am always elated to interview a woman from our community, to hear her life story and the passion in her voice when she describes her life purpose. Please meet Shany Shaharabany, a family nurse practitioner and professor at the NYU Nursing School, who is on fire about helping people and saving lives. Let’s follow Shany on her journey from childhood to adulthood. In sharing her trajectory, I hope to convey her essence and her infectious energy and commitment to pikuach nefesh , preserving life. SHANY’S ROOTS Shany Shaharabany, née Dagmy, was born in Flatbush to Stella and Shaul Dagmy, both Lebanese immigrants. Shany is immensely proud of her parents and siblings. She is one of five children with three older brothers and a younger sister. “I was the first girl, the fourth child, the serious one. I wanted to be perfect for my mom and dad. I was on honor roll and won lots of awards. My parents worked hard to establish themselves in the States.” The Dagmys were supportive of Shany’s goals and passions and they trusted her judgment. Her mother communicated that it was essential that Shany do something for herself and that being awoman and mother would not stand in her way. Shany attended Shulamith School for Girls from grade school through high school. She talked about her accomplished classmates who pursued professions and advanced degrees in diverse fields. Shany was ten years old when she realized that the medical field was where her passion lay. Shany had a number of uncles and cousins who were doctors. Her mother’s cousin steered her towards nursing, saying that as an observant Jewish woman, she could grow and do so much as a nurse. As a teenager, Shany volunteered on Shabbat at Beth Israel Hospital visiting patients and she worked as a medical assistant in a doctor’s office. The Dagmys taught their children to respect everyone regardless of their religion or their station in life. “They showed us that everyone has a soul and a heart. My parents kept in touch with our non-Jewish nanny and others. I am a good nurse because of their middot .” MARRIAGE, FAMILY, AND CAREER Shany met her naseeb , Yosef Shaharabany, when she was eighteen. She met him through a shidduch arranged by mutual family friends. “Joseph is a gem. He is the best person on this planet. I only knew three people from Mill Basin and Joseph grew up there. We met in May, got engaged in June, and married in September. He is three years older and of Iraqi descent. He was super supportive about my education and raising a family. He stuck by me through all my schooling and nursing jobs, including the pandemic.” While Shany filled me in about her life, I was in awe of her boundless strength, determination, and focus. Her family life, schooling, and career are deeply intertwined. During the past 12 years, Shany got married, took her nursing prerequisites, enrolled in nursing and graduate schools, gave birth to six children, and held five different nursing positions. She is emphatic that she could not have done it without the loving and limitless help of her husband, her mother, and her mother-in-law. I was envious when Shany told me that she never worked on Fridays. Her nursing school classes did not fall out on Fridays. She drew the line with her employers about not coming in on erev Shabbat and only occasionally had to put in minimal clinical hours on a Friday. EDUCATION Shany graduated from Beth Israel Nursing School with an associate degree. Shany gave birth to her oldest son, now eleven, after spending her pregnancy on bed rest in her parents’ home, which was close by in Flatbush. Shany completed her first year of nursing classes before her son was born. Shany gave birth to her second child, a girl, on nursing school graduation day. Her two oldest are 15 months apart. Shany learned that she would need a bachelor’s degree to get a nursing position in a hospital. She worked as a school nurse while studying online for her bachelor’s degree. After 14 months, Shany had her diploma and a third child, a boy. OFF TO WORK! “I immediately called every hospital in Brooklyn. I was hired by Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center and was a day shift staff nurse in the Cardiac step-down unit for six years and worked three 12-hour shifts a week.” Shany had three children as she began her nursing career. She felt very overwhelmed with a new job, a new home, and three kids under the age of five. “There were lots of tears in the beginning, but I got a good rhythm going and it became part of my life. Never working Fridays and having the unconditional assistance of my family were key.”