I AM TEN TIMES THE PERSON I WAS WHEN I STARTED.
Becoming a nurse was single handedly the best thing I ever did for myself. People always talk about education and it's importance and jesus.............without it.............there would be no possibilities. Don't get wrong, I loved the life I was living "pre-nursing", but I struggled. It was hard to pay bills, to really enjoy the nice things life has to offer, and I became frustrated with how things were turning out. I always thought," how will I provide for a family? buy a house?", these thoughts plagued me daily and were beginning to wear on my sanity. The decision to go into medicine was an easy one. It was the first steps that were hard. Reading the pre requisite lists: organic chemistry, microbiology, anatomy and physiology. How on earth was I going to pass those? Hell, I could barely even pronounce some of the classes. But one by one, I signed up, showed up and passed. Step by step, day by day, I became a nurse. I real live nurse. What a cool feeling.
So.....I graduated, got hired, began working and began blogging ;)
A year later............ here we are.
Is it hard being a nurse? Yes it is absolutely exhausting.
Is it true nurses never eat or pee? Yes it's true. I may go 10 hours....
Is it true nurses save doctor's butts all the time? Yes absolutely. But we work together a lot.
Do I cry? All the time. Sometimes I can't stop.
What is the grossest thing you've ever seen? When someone's ass fell out of their ass. literally.
What do you like the most about nursing? Learning something new every single day.
Would you ever be another kind of nurse? No...ER is for me. It's fast and furious.
What do you dislike about nursing? The physical stress of being on your feet for 12 hours nonstop.
Do you think you'll ever get hardened to the job? I pray I don't. If I do...i'm out.
Why don't you like working in the pediatric ER? I find the peds illnesses not as interesting as adults.
How can you stand the smells? I wear double masks! Or I put rubbing alcohol in my nostrils.
Does anything embarrass you? NO. I HAVE SEEN IT ALL. lol
Why didn't you become a doctor?
Nurses are the front lines, they are nurturing and kind and feel for their patients. Nurses look the patients in the eyes and hear what they are saying. They communicate their opinions to the doctors and doctors often take their advice to heart. We as nurses, are responsible for the medications we give, we must check and double check the dosage, the allergies and the patients reactions to the treatments. I think one of the most important things we must do is use our sixth sense all day long to feel for issues with our patients. A patient can go from 100 percent to death in a span of 5 minutes and one missed clue, one missed room check... could be the difference between living and dying. It's a tough thing to swallow but it's the truth. And I gladly except the challenge.
I am proud of the nurse i've become. I feel smart, confident and I love that I feel an instinct now that I never thought I would have. I react quickly and efficiently and I trust myself. I trust the decisions I make. I had a patient tonight grab my hand and say to me, "I'm so grateful you're my nurse. You make me feel safe and taken care of. You have a warm heart, I can feel it. Thank you for everything you've done".
It's those little things. It makes me boil over with pride. It just makes me so happy.
My life up until this point has been nothing but an unbelieveable journey. I've won a ton of awards with color guard and drum corps, taught some amazing students and saved a few lives.
I met and fell in love with probably the most incredible man on the planet. I thought I was strong before but having someone be your rock is the most amazing feeling. I am so grateful for him.
Well, to blog or not to blog?My initial plan was to only chronicle my first year as an ER nurse but honestly, I think I need it. I need to let it out, write it down and cry a little while doing so. To all of you who read and enjoyed my blog, thank you! Your encouraging words and messages made it worthwhile. And if I inspired even one of you to dream big, change your life or even just believe in yourself a little more....then it was all worth it.
Forever a nurse,
