I am a registered nurse. I take care of you and your loved ones during the most frightening times of your lives--when you are too sick or injured to do it yourselves. I see people in every stage of life--beginning, middle, and the end. I hold your hand as you experience pain, be it physical or emotional. I experience joy and devastation with my patients and their families. I give you the dignity and respect that you deserve.
I am an educated professional. I have a 4-year degree and am certified in my field. I have an alphabet soup behind my name, but you know me as "m." I develop my own care plans, assess the patient, and initiate treatments based on my observations, in addition to carrying out the doctor's orders. I coordinate your care between teams of physicians, pharmacists, therapists, dieticians, and laboratory scientists. I am knowledgeable in biology, anatomy, physiology, chemistry, pharmacology, sociology, and psychology. I'm like the orchestra conductor, making sure everything stays in order and you don't get lost.
I work long, weird hours. I spend the day on my feet. I lose my weekends and nights to call, and sometimes to mandatory overtime. I'm not always guaranteed a meal, and sometimes have been reduced to eating a spoonful of peanut butter in a moment of downtime.
I wouldn't give it up for anything. There are heartbreaking moments and heartwarming moments. Nursing is frustrating and rewarding. Parts of it are simple--taking care of peoples' basic needs. Parts of it are complex--taking care of people, and those peoples' families, teetering between life and death.
That's what I do. I'm a nurse.
peace and love,
m
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