Alison (Ali) and Stephen Sporleder are no strangers to the relentless grind of hospital life. Ali is an APRN for Mosaic Women’s Health – Maryville while Stephen is an RN in the Emergency Department in Maryville. Amidst the chaos of working at the hospital, the two can find little moments throughout the day to visit when they are working at the same time.

“Working in the same building is nice as it occasionally allows us a few minutes to visit face-to-face,” says Stephen. “We ask each other about how the day is going, how the morning with the kids was or what our plans after work are.”

While both admit that work stress does find its way to their home conversations, Ali says it helps make their relationship stronger.

“We understand how stress can affect us at home, so I think it helps overall to know what each other may be going through and how to be there to support,” says Ali.

The two have found it important to celebrate each other and the successes they may have on any given day. “It’s terrific that so many of our mutual friends are also in health care so it makes celebrating together very easy,” says Stephen. “We love going out and meeting people for dinner or gatherings.”

With two kids, Ali and Stephen are thankful for having such great family and friends who are willing to help when needed and can step in to make sure the kids can get where they need to be. “We rely a lot on our family and friends to help get the children where they need to go or when we just need to get away for an occasional date night or a night out with friends,” says Ali.

Their advice for other couples who work in high-pressure environments?

“Communicate,” says Ali. “Being willing to communicate with each other at the close of the day is imperative, but it’s also important to remember that the other person is not the source of any frustrations you might be feeling,” Stephen added.

Mosaic thanks all nurses for all that they do to keep our communities healthy.