Across The Cigna Group, nurses work side by side with physicians, pharmacists, and care teams to help turn care plans into actual support for patients and families. Working across various care settings and disciplines, they play a central role in coordinating services, applying clinical expertise, and meeting people where they are – especially at pivotal moments in their treatment journeys.

In honor of National Nurses Week and International Nurses Day, we’re spotlighting just a few examples of how nurses across the enterprise translate that commitment into action every day.

Listening closely – and moving quickly

For Kelli, a personal nurse advocate supporting people with cancer, the work begins with listening. Customers often reach her with urgent and deeply personal questions – from treatment side effects to coverage concerns – at the very moment their lives have been turned upside down.

In one case, a newly enrolled customer living with stage IV pancreatic cancer faced uncertainty about access to a critical oncology medication. Kelli coordinated with the provider, pharmacist, and Accredo Specialty Pharmacy to confirm authorization and prevent delays in treatment. Her early involvement and continued support helped ease stress for the customer and his family while keeping care on track at an incredibly difficult time.

Showing up when care can’t wait

For Angela, director of nursing at MD Live, much of the work involves responding quickly when patients need care outside traditional settings. Her team supports telehealth operations around the clock, helping people access timely clinical guidance whether they are in rural communities, displaced by disaster, or away from home.

That role became critical when a husband and wife who had lost everything in a California wildfire arrived at a shelter without medications, phones, or identification. Angela and her team worked to enable the couple to access their benefits as well as connect them to board certified, California-licensed providers. She also partnered with local emergency responders to ensure the couple received their insulin and medications, with the costs covered by the local shelter.

Guiding care with experience and calm

For Patti, a clinical reviewer with EviCore, her decades of nursing experience shaped a steady, detail‑oriented approach to time‑sensitive care decisions. Her work often involves helping patients and provider offices navigate complex radiology requests that often need to be addressed quickly.

When a Medicare patient encountered repeated delays for an urgent MRI because of coding errors and a closed provider office, Patti stepped in to help. She worked across multiple stakeholders to resolve coding and scheduling issues, helping ensure the imaging could move forward that same weekend.

Acting fast when the signs are critical

As part of a clinical team monitoring critical lab results around the clock, MD Live nurses Alexis and Maddie know that speed and judgment often go hand in hand. When a patient’s lab work returned with dangerously low hemoglobin levels, they immediately verified the results and reached out to the patient to assess what was a potentially life-threatening situation.

While speaking with the patient, Alexis and Maddie helped coordinate emergency transport to a nearby hospital. The patient was admitted and received multiple blood transfusions – care that may not have been received in time without the nurses’ intervention.

Supporting a patient through an urgent medication reaction

For Linda, an Accredo Telephonic Nurse, every call is a chance to help patients and caregivers manage urgent questions and complex situations. She provides guidance on specialty medications, connects people to resources, and supports them through difficult moments.

When she received a call from a 78-year-old patient about new symptoms after restarting specialty medication treatment, Linda quickly recognized signs of a possible hypersensitivity reaction. She calmly asked questions to assess the patient’s airway and breathing, and stayed on the line as she consulted with Accredo pharmacists to verify any potential risk and the best course of action. When Linda’s offer to send emergency paramedics was declined, Linda made sure the patient’s caregiver was available to take the patient immediately to the hospital.

Going the extra mile to make sure a patient is safe

When a patient receiving continuous home infusion therapy became unexpectedly difficult to reach, CarepathRx nurse Jay grew concerned. The patient had recently experienced multiple hospitalizations and was also caring for a spouse with severe dementia – circumstances that raised red flags when routine check‑ins went unanswered.

Unable to reach the patient by phone, Jay drove directly to the patient’s home to perform a wellness check to ensure he was safe and that his treatment was still on track. This dedication shows how nursing support often extends beyond scheduled visits.

Digging deeper to find the right diagnosis

At an Evernorth Workplace Care health center, family nurse practitioner Deidre met with a patient who had been coping for months with headaches, tingling, neck pain, and vision issues that continued to worsen despite previous evaluations. Earlier visits elsewhere had resulted in referrals that didn’t fully explain the symptoms.

After a careful assessment, Deidre identified concerning indicators and ordered additional testing and specialist referrals. Those next steps led to a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, allowing the patient to begin appropriate treatment and finally gain clarity after a long period of uncertainty.

Helping families move forward with confidence

For families managing complex conditions at home, the transition out of the hospital can be one of the most challenging moments in care. When a 9-year-old patient with hemophilia was discharged following a serious injury, Accredo infusion nurse Jacob stepped in to support the move to home‑based treatment.

Home-based hemophilia care requires hyper intensive dosing and IV infusion. Jacob coordinated rapid medication delivery to the patient’s home, provided hands‑on training for the parents on IV administration, and remained available to answer any questions and provide further support when needed. His guidance helped the family feel prepared and confident as the child’s care continued outside the hospital.

A profession built on trust and connection

These stories offer just a glimpse of the impact nurses across The Cigna Group make every day. Whether helping someone understand a diagnosis, coordinating urgent care behind the scenes, or guiding patients through complex care systems, their work is grounded in trust, advocacy, and a deep commitment to the people they serve.

This National Nurses Week, we thank the nurses who show up every day with skill, compassion, and determination. Their contributions continue to have a lasting effect well beyond each patient encounter.