Long story short...


I was diagnosed with a chronic illness when I was in high school. I was in and out of the hospital many times for procedures. I saw first hand the difference that a nurse can make to help the patient feel at ease. That's when I decided that I wanted to do the same work that these wonderful nurses modeled for me.

 We as nurses have the opportunity to make a difference in someone's lives in a big way, not too many people can say this to the level that WE can. How many people do you know looking into the medical field and do not have a clue what to do. WE all DO! We not only can help our families but other families as well, what a cool feeling that is to have helped another human being so profoundly.

I'm not practicing nursing anymore and because I've been physicially ill, don't feel like I have a purpose in life. From where I stood in nursing, one of our jobs was to help our patients as they go through an adustment period, be it to a  new illness or a chronic illness or a terminal illness.

Just 11 years ago, I was hopping in and out of Lake Michicagn, runninig//swimming/biking in triathlons. Now, I sit here all day, can't play with my dog because of joint pain  (SLE)  an tons of muscle pain  (fibromyalgia).I'mggaining weight fast, I can't find clothes to fit and it all contributes to a low esteem in times when I don't need it.

Then to top it off, I forgot to renew my nursing license this spring, as we were in the middle of a move and things got pretty hectic. I don't feel as on top of my nursing game as many of you seem. When I was a patient in the hospital, it was the nurse, nurse's aid and LPN who made me feel like a human being. Sure, the nurses had the technical skills, but all have that "joie de vivre," to make me feel alive. Visual hallucinations from a newly tried medication are scary enough, but having a nurse there as I opened my eyes to reassure me that that little old man was only a dream was wonderful

Doctors wrote the orders for my carre, but I can write the story from both sides, as I know what goes on behind the scenes. Nurses and their compadres can either 'make or break' a hospital stay, and in most instances, they made it!

I don't have a fantastic wonderful story as most of you do but here is mine...

When i was younger I told used to ask my parents what they wanted me to be when I grow up, everyone elses parents would say oh Johnny's going to be a lawyer... my parents just always told me they wanted me to be whatever I wanted to be....  I pondered what seemed like forever about what I wanted to be... I decided I should be a doctor..... I didn't do very well in middle school and my dad told me that there was no way I would make it through medschool with those grades... he was right i wouldn't have. I didn't give much thought about what i would be until I got to be a freshman in high school. We could "go to work" with your parents for a day and not get counted out of school. I decided to go with my sister because she was a MA at a peditricians office. I LOVED it all of the medical things around me and talking with the doctor got me excited!!! I later dated a guy who's mom was a MA at the same OBGYN office that I was delivered from. She asked me what I was going to do with my life.. i told her I would be an MA like her and my sister... I wanted to be just like my sister. She suggested Nursing instead... and from then on there I was... a future nurse.

I can't imagine doing anything else... the human body absolutly facinates me. I love to give my all to other people. I may not have known what i wanted to be early in life, I  knew I thought blood was cool, but I know now that I wouldn't fit anywhere else better. I live for this!!

Well, when I was 18, I had a rough delivery of my son. I labored for 3 days at home and another 44 hours at the hospital. I felt that there was no nurse in that hospital that was supportive or helpful.  I was in severe sleep deprivation and horrible pain. Lets face it, I was young, scared and in major pain. I remember 1 nurse coming to the birthing room yelling at me to shut up that I was disturbing other patients. Also,  I was told by my mother (and do remember bits and pieces of it myself) that I got up and started walking out the door. She asked me where I was going and I told her I had enough and was going home. It was from that experience that I wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to make a difference in a laboring mothers life, to make her birthing experience more pleasurable then mine.  Well, it took 2 more births before I did the actual college enrollment. Sad part is, I never made it to the RN level, so my full dream hasn't been met yet.

 great stories