“You treat a disease you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you’ll win no matter what the outcome.” - Patch Adams
Ninety percent of the time when I tell someone I am a nursing major I get back, “Good for you! Making sure you have job security!” But I don’t want to be a nurse because there will be a job for me, it’s about much more than that. So when I’m asked “Why? Why do you want to spend your life in a hospital dealing with blood and vomit?” my short answer is the generic “I want to help people” but in reality, I want to be a nurse for so many reasons other than “to help people."
Nursing is a challenging field. Whether it’s the schooling, the testing or the job itself I will always be challenged. No day will be the same as the one before and I will never quit learning. Yes, I know the schooling will be time consuming, I’ll get stressed and want to turn back. But I also know that nursing is my dream, one that I won’t give up on no matter how many sleepless nights I have or tears I cry, I will do it. The human body is a fascinating system, one that always has new information, diseases and procedures being discovered about it. Therefore, my knowledge will never stop. There will be challenging days, but I know that these days are when I have the opportunity to growth as a nurse and as a person.
Nurses have this insatiable need to care for others which is their greatest strength and fatal flaw. Helping people takes as much as it gives people. You'll feel on top of the world because you helped, but it can also put you at the bottom knowing you couldn't do enough. Sure, the desire to help people is a major part of a nurse’s personality, but I want to do more than that. I want to make a difference in someone’s life. There are so many different pathways a nurse can choose, too. Pediatrics or geriatrics, ER or oncology, hospital or private practice, Licensed Practical Nurse or Nurse Practitioner… Everyone has their specialty and preference, but it’s all about doing what you love. I want to make my patients safe, comfortable and happy. I want the best for every one of them, I want to push them to be the best they can. Everyone needs support and, whether you know it or not, everyone is fighting a battle. So I want to be able to be the strength my patients need when they feel like giving up, remind them just how strong and courageous they are. I want to provide hope for them when they feel hopeless. I want to make their life a little easier when they feel like there is no upside.
“You’re going to all that school to be a Nurse Practitioner? Why not just be a doctor?” It’s not about the money, it’s not about the title, it’s not about the people whom I work above. None of this has importance to me. It is about doing what I love. It is about the people, the patients and the level of care I can provide for them. Growing up I did want to be a doctor, I thought they were these people like superheroes that prescribed medicine and saved lives. Now, I see that doctors are often present for fifteen to twenty minutes, providing facts and then often disappearing for the next twelve hours. Nurses are the ones who are with the patient at every call, making everything as easy as possible. Doctors may prescribe the medication, but it is a nurse’s job to make sure that the medication is given and watch how the patient reacts with it. Nurses are often overlooked for the work they do. It is one of the most understaffed, underappreciated careers out there, but also one of the most rewarding.
One day, quickly approaching, I will be next to an infant’s bed checking vitals and administering medications. Maybe I’ll be in the ER rushing in a new patient while an EMT shouts out vitals. Or even in an OR stabilizing a patient who has gone into vfib. I’ll be working 12 hour shifts, with swollen feet and who knows what bodily fluids on my scrubs, but I’ll always go back for more. Because I will be making a difference for someone whether it be a patient, a patient’s family or a colleague.
