my nursing heart.

oh how my nursing heart needed this weekend.
it needed the good, the bad, the ugly. but in the end it was so so good, my heart is full.

nursing is work, I get paid, I punch in and out of the clock for my shift, I get benefits & PTO.

|B U T|

nursing is my heart. it is my passion, an extension of my purpose in life to serve, learn, and grow from human interaction, in the most intimate, scary, frustrating of times. . . the most exciting, best, and hopeful of times.  my work is filled with juxtaposition, with a lot of complexity, this challenge to find balance for people in their lives and in my career is the fuel for me to keep pursuing to be a better nurse, a better human, for myself, my patients, family & friends. I cannot articulate it to you in any other way than yelling from the rooftops,
"I have found the best career in the world (for me)".

I know that not everyone's career is the same as their purpose in life. Instead, their career enables them to pursue their passions, interests, dreams, and fulfillment. For me, I get fuel for my soul from my career in nursing.

Nursing work is draining, empowering, frustrating, gratifying, everything that one feels when they are working within their strength area. I can only wish but the best for people to find this in their lives, whether this means the source is from employment, hobbies, dreams, motherhood/ fatherhood.

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I tell this to my patients regularly, no one should be used to or good at navigating the health care system, I don't wish these beds to be filled every night as they are, but I as your nurse am going to do my best to be your advocate, your educator, your assistant during this stressful and uncertain time. there is never a good time for a hospitalization, never a good time to say goodbye to a loved one, never a good time to adjust to a lifestyle change due to health status. I am your nurse, I will be here for you, but it takes you and me, a team, working together to move forward.

It's an empowering experience to work with patience and coworkers over consecutive days and sometimes even weeks, to see your relationship and trust grow, seeing the progress people make, even if it feels like it is "one step forward, two steps back". This weekend was that for me, a reminder that no one enters your life as an accident, I truly believe that each relationship I make at my job, even if it is for a short time has purpose. My patients and fellow nurses/ health care professionals give me so much more some days than I ever feel like I can provide for them, for that I am thankful on this long-weekend of work.