Navigation nursing – my personal journey

Have I all the time desired to be a nurse? NO. First I desired to be a Rockette. Many years of dance school and several other trips to New York sowed the seed of becoming a dancer at an early age. But when that childhood dream faded away, I noticed that my passion for science, especially biology, would take my dreams in a distinct direction. AND

As soon as I turned 14, I started volunteering at a neighborhood hospital, and when it got here time to use to varsity, nursing school was high on my list. The recruiter’s visit sealed this decision. One meeting and I used to be convinced that nursing was the one career for me. I used to be lucky to go to my dream school and study under the supervision of fantastic professors and nurses. The plan was to graduate and specialise in pediatrics or childbirth.

To my surprise, it was the ICU rotation that called me, not the mother-baby rotation. In my first yr of faculty, I got a job as a nursing assistant within the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) of a university hospital. After completing the BSN program, I started working as an RN in the identical facility. As a brand new ICU graduate, I had lots to learn. The nurses, lots of whom knew me after I was a student, taught me lots about caring for the critically sick, working with others, and supporting patients. As I expanded my role to incorporate nurse, teacher and clinical leader, I assumed the ICU could be my home throughout my profession.

However, after a number of years I made a decision to return to highschool and proceed my studies. I considered a critical care nurse (NP) program, but ultimately decided to review women’s health. It took me about 4 years to earn my master’s degree – I worked on weekends and attended classes and clinical visits throughout the week. Caring for ladies, mostly healthy and plenty of pregnant, in an outpatient setting was a really different experience than caring for critically sick patients in a hospital setting.

When I used to be on the lookout for a job as an NP, I happened to see an ad for a position in a neighborhood nursing magazine, and regardless that I wasn’t really sure what it was, I made a decision to use for the job and discover. What a change awaited me! I worked in an office and wore real clothes. I spent the primary 6 months in a movie studio, helping to provide nursing movies. If someone had ever told you that as a nurse I might at some point be writing scripts about EKGs and IV insertions, recruiting talent, and spending time in an editing studio, I would not have believed it! I began working on book and online products, learning lots while drawing on my clinical knowledge and experience.

Around this time I used to be starting a family. While pregnant with twins, I worked full-time as a clinical editor and part-time as an RN within the NICU. I took advantage of the hospital profit to attend graduate school and was committed to working there to pay for my education. When my twin sons were born 11 weeks prematurely, the whole lot stopped. I used to be lucky to have the option to quit my job and deal with being a mom. However, changing habits to change into a mother of critically sick children was difficult. Ventilators, vasoactive drugs, and the whole lot I used to be used to as a nurse within the adult intensive care unit was very different within the neonatal intensive care unit after I was a mother.

Fortunately, my boys overcame many obstacles, and as they grew and developed, I used to be in a position to return to work, albeit from home and part-time. Again, I used to be lucky that a nursing degree offered so many flexible opportunities. I started working as a contract clinical editor at Lippincott NursingCenter, and as my boys and their younger sister grew, so did my role as clinical editor, which I still do today.

However, the story doesn’t end there. I used to be wanting to return to a clinical setting and my eyes were open to recent opportunities in nursing. During one in all the “Hospitality Sundays” in our church, a nurse was sitting at a table with leaflets from the “Nurses Center”. I learned about this nurse-led and NP-led clinic that serves our community and decided to get entangled. Once again, this recent opportunity taught me lots about being a nurse and learn how to make a difference, this time in my very own community where I didn’t realize how great the necessity for care and education was for the uninsured and underinsured. The clinic is closed during this time, but directors are maintaining contact with patients via telehealth as needed. I can not wait for the day we’re back in business!

I’m unsure what is going to occur to me next, but I consider that at some point I’ll return to the hospital. The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired me and unleashed my inner intensive care nurse. I’ll must keep you posted!