A nurse reflects

          I entered nursing later than most nurses of my generation. I was a music major at Lebanon valley College in Annville, PA, specializing in performance in voice. I almost completed my degree when I felt that I did not have the personality to deal with the rejection that one deals with in the music business. I floundered around, working at menial jobs. I became a dental assistant and later was a nursing assistant in homecare, a health-related facility and finally a community hospital. It was here that I decided to pursue nursing as a career. I had so much admiration for the nurses I worked with! I wanted to be “just like them when I grew up”.

I started my nursing career on a medical-surgical unit, working evenings. After one year, I went to the ICU. Here I learned everything that has been the basis for anything that I’ve ever done in nursing.I learned a complete head to toe assessment of the patient. I developed my critical thinking skills. I worked there for eight years before transfering to maternal-child nursing. I learned that every patient, including newborns has a story. As nurses, we need to validate those stories and learn from them. I use stories a lot to illustrate points I want to use to teach students and new nurses.

I have worked in maternal-child health for the past 10 years. I am very grateful to see new life every day. I specialize in caring for women who have high-risk pregnancies. Life is not always happy in this setting. I believe that I am here to assist mothers in giving their newborns the best possible start in life. I have a passion for patient education and love teaching new mothers and pregnant women.

I am graduating soon from a Master’s in Nursing Program at Drexel University in Philadelphia. I am a nursing innovator who sees the importance of having a vision AND a plan for my profession and my career. Without vision, the people perish, a Native American leader once said. Planning and vision go hand in hand. I will continue to tell my patients’ stories in one form or another. They have been and will continue as my greatest teachers.