I was at Barnes and Nobles last week and I wandered over to the “nursing/medical” section hoping to find a book or 2 written by nurses about their lives and various experiences. I found nothing of interest. Nothing. There were self help books written by doctors, books written by doctors about how they changed as people when they became a doctor, and more self help books. Then there were text books of which I have no interest. I already took the classes they had textbooks about when I was in nursing school. Various drug information books and of course anatomy and physiology books. Just a sample of what I saw. I was disappointed. I am going to google and see what results I come up with.
I would love to read about other nurses’ experiences, especially a book about a nurse who swore she would never work as a nurse again, applied for a job she wasn’t sure she wanted, was hired for said job and as a result fell in love with her job and the profession of nursing. A feeling she never had towards nursing to begin with. And lest we not forget the whole handbag issue the main character would have.
My mom is a nurse and I always felt nursing was a calling, in your blood if that makes sense. My mom is an amazing nurse who had that calling and she’s so smart and talented I would absolutely say nursing is in her blood. Even when I graduated college I never felt that way about myself. When I worked my first job on the neuro unit in hospital there were many nights I wondered why was I doing this?? Was this really what I signed up for? I did not like working in the hospital. So much work both mentally and physically, so little time to use the freaking bathroom, so many personalities, so much drama, so not me. You had to work every other weekend and don’t get me started on working holidays. If you were me you weren’t a favorite of the manager and received the crappiest holiday schedule ever. But I’m not bitter… I digress…working in hospital was never for me I know that now. But I did get a great nursing foundation and experience so that’s the other side of the coin.
Today I tell people I love my job when asked “so how is work,” and I do love my job. It’s not the great schedule of Monday to Friday, off when the schools are off. I swear it’s not, a wonderful perk yes. I’m not ignorant. I love taking care of the students I’ve been entrusted to take care of. I love that parents trust me to take care of their special needs, medically fragile child. I don’t take that trust lightly. I never took it lightly when I had to put my trust in nurses I met that very day, to depend on them to give my son medications only I had given him as that was my department when Thomas lived at home. To trust those nurses to give him correct dosages, to remember to remind the doctor his blood levels and blood cell count had to be monitored. One of the hardest things I ever had to do secondary to handing over my son was to hand over his medications. It meant I had to step down a notch in his life and put my trust in someone else. I get it.
I sometimes wish I discovered school nursing when I was younger. But…when I was younger I was busy with Thomas, and also busy with Alyssa and Lelly, then came Samantha. So I don’t know how I would have held down a full time job when I had more than full time responsibilities for my family. The timing would have been off. My working now is nothing short of God’s timing.
Menay O; mom to 4, Christian and thrift shopper on the side... 