Every nurse
has a story.

Why I became a nurse

I came to nursing later in life. I was never a young nurse. I spent a decade after high school on a quest of discovery- not just of my innermost self , but also of the people and world around me. Once armed with the knowledge of who I was, and what I could do, I began the journey of working towards my hopes, dreams and goals. With an interest in medical care and knowledge -much to the surprise of my mother - I set out to get accepted into nursing school. “Why don’t you do HVAC or plumbing?” she said. I made a joke about how a doctor would be your first choice, but when push came to shove, in an emergency, would you rather have a plumber try to save you or a nurse? Lol.
I remember telling her that I wasn’t sure that I would enjoy nursing, and if I didn’t, I could do something else, but at least I would always have some basic knowledge that might come in handy. And besides, if nursing didn’t work out, with a nurse’s pay and three 12 hour shifts I could go back to school while still working. Whereas as a truck driver, I was able to do some pre-requisitions on the road, but I had to give up my income to attend nursing school in person.
My first day of clinicals was my lightbulb moment where I knew that nursing was for me. I saw that my patient was in pain while I was bathing him. I advocated with my instructor and the nursing team for the doctor to be notified and pain medicine to be requested as he had none on his med list. The next day when I arrived, the nurse told me she took my findings to the doctor and got the patient some pain medication. She told me to come back in 30 minutes because she just administered it. That day, because of my intervention , while I provided care for my patient he was not moaning, he was not physically tense or guarding. And not only was he out of pain that day, but he now had medication to get him out of pain every day. And as someone who had seen friends who could not get out of pain… and had suffered debilitating pain myself years prior…. I understood the impact that I had made on that man’s life that day. And I never looked back.

My experiences

As I gained experience as a nurse, my focus was less on gaining a specialty and more on an overall holistic approach to healing. I’ve had experiences with corrections, long-term care, behavioral health nursing, pediatrics as well as geriatrics, MedSurg, and community nursing in home health battling chronic disease, processes, knowledge deficits, complicated psychosocial situations , and at one point Covid. I’ve lead a non-skilled agency where I expanded their business portfolio into delegated nursing tasks through a combination of thorough regulatory research and creation of policies, procedures, HR documentation, and training programs. Through my experience as a local and travel nurse with various agencies , I’ve gained insight and knowledge into various organizational structures to see what works, what doesn’t work, and what could work with modifications elsewhere. My focus is on quality, compassionate, patient care at the same level that I would expect my loved ones to be taken care of.
And while this has resulted in me
missing my own medical appointments, family engagements, and working extended hours to make sure that every patient was seen who would allow me to see them…… this is also why I am consistently rated as “will recommend” and “10 out of 10” by my patients.

Looking ahead

I’m reminded of a 1980s song. “My future’s so bright I gotta wear shades. I gotta wear shades”

With my experiences, skill set, dedication to patient care, compassionate heart, energetic aura, proven track record, and entrepreneurial attitude… I bring a lot to the table…. and the table brings a lot to me.
What do I see in my next chapter of nursing? A number of possibilities and opportunities. Returning to a management position so that I can have a greater impact than as an RN Case Manager or floor nurse. But not just as it pertains to quality patient care but also to staff/documentation development and building the next generation of nurses. Possibly creating an independent nursing agency. Or using my experience with creating and running an S-corporation to now create a nonprofit to help facilitate a medical transportation service for seniors and underserved patients in the community.