Growing Up A Nurse

May 9, 2012 By 3 Comments

As we pass Florence’s birthday and journey farther into Nurses’ Week 2012, it gives me the occasion to pause and reflect on my career and some of the people and events that influenced me along the way. I thought I would take the opportunity this week to share just a few of these.

My first conscious memory of wanting to be a nurse dates back to when I was 9 years old. My dad was sick fairly often when I was growing up, and that particular time I remember being in the waiting room of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City with my mom. My dad had been diagnosed with what I’m assuming was a third degree heart block, and had a pacemaker implanted. Back then, patients were in the hospital much longer than they are now, and I remember him being in there for several days that time. When I finally got to see him, his normally clean-shaven face was riddled with a several-day growth of beard. This wasn’t my dad! [Read more...]

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Eyes Open, Sword Sharp

February 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

As I was waiting in line at the grocery store last year, the cover of the November 2011 edition of Reader’s Digest caught my eye. Did you see it? The RD has been running this column “X number of secrets your ____ (fill in the blank with some profession) won’t tell you” for the last few months. The column has been quite enlightening, I must say. So, I picked up that issue and read the article “50 Secrets Nurses Won’t Tell You.” Nothing new to me popped out—the points mentioned were major things that I’ve heard multiple times over the years within the nursing profession.

But what caught my eye was a recurring theme…that docs have their place and their value, but nurses make the difference. Again, nothing new, right? All nurses know this! Then it hit me. If we make the difference, what kind of responsibility does that place on our shoulders?  This realization of massive responsibility is not necessarily new to me and probably will not be to you, but perhaps I felt it again in a deeper way.

I think the responsibility hit me for the first time while I was working NICU in Arkansas.  At that time, NICU was a new specialty for me, and I fell in love with it. My co-workers, including the docs and NPs, were INCREDIBLE. [Read more...]

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Advice for Nursing Students

February 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Guest Post by Anna Brownlie

What advice would you give to new nursing students, who before they pass their examinations are not yet cynical about the industry? Do you sell them the dream picture which will evaporate before their eyes as they venture out to their first real patient meeting or do you tell them all about it as it really is, so they are potentially hardened to the problems before they begin?

Will anyone respect you?

The lack of respect is a difficult one to manage in the working life of a nurse. There are excuses for some people to treat the nurses offhandedly – the seriously ill should give you full respect, but their mind and – that of their close family or friends [Read more...]

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