From horses to people: my unconventional path to nursing

Julie Adkins, RN At the tip of my senior 12 months of highschool, I got married and commenced starting a family. Five years later, my son Brandon was hit by a tractor on the stable I managed. After removing the tractor, the blacksmith and I managed to take it to the emergency room (the hearth brigade took too long to reach). Brandon’s injuries were extensive: a crushed lung, broken ribs and a torn liver. Once stabilized, he was taken to a trauma center where he was taken into surgery. For three days, doctors weren’t sure if he would survive, but then his condition began to enhance. Doctors said he could be in intensive take care of at the very least two months. But miraculously, he managed to depart the hospital eight days after the accident. After Brandon’s recovery, I spent plenty of time fascinated with the importance of responding quickly to emergencies. This whole experience with my son made me consider becoming an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). However, pursuing this path could have to attend. I still had three little ones to boost and acreage to take care of.

Vet, I’m coming

Thirteen years after graduating from highschool, I started studying to grow to be a veterinary technician. After so a few years of being away from school, I returned to class with 30 other latest students. Two years later, it was time for graduation and the 31 students dropped to only seven graduates. After just a few years of working as a veterinary technician, we moved into our everlasting home on 28 acres and I used to be given the chance to grow to be a paramedic. I joined a neighborhood one McClelland Volunteer Fire Department and I accomplished the training, but I didn’t stop there. I became a firefighter too! Being a brand new paramedic was intense but exciting. Making latest friends and joining the primary responder family has been an awesome honor and learning the best way to serve has been amazing.

You cannot prepare for each situation, but you reply to every emergency call specializing in the way you may also help when you arrive.

The worst call I ever received was a house fire. Several departments responded. Upon arrival, it turned out that an elderly woman was still in the home. Unfortunately, our efforts turned from rescue to recovery. It takes time to take care of among the things we see, but doing what we love and having an awesome support system helps. Sometimes there are funny moments. One evening, after a motorcycle event on the town, I rode my motorcycle to the hearth station. As soon as I arrived we were called to a multiple vehicle collision with a deer. I put down my bike and hopped in my truck to go straight to the scene. When we arrived on the scene of the accident, I could not consider the rest however the patients and forgot that I used to be still wearing my leather hats on the bike. I rode with a patient within the ambulance all of the method to the hospital and still didn’t notice my outfit, that’s, until the emergency room doctors noticed me. Their faces were priceless! We laughed so hard about it later.

Let’s get to nursing – finally!

As time passed and I continued to develop, I became the captain of emergency medical services in our department – a position I held for 12 years. However, after several years of working as a veterinary technician and in the hearth department, I felt that something was missing. I made a decision to take a risk and devote my time to becoming a nurse for people. Everything happened so fast. My friend Kelly told me in regards to the nursing program she was enrolled in and asked if I would love to hitch her. I used to be soon enrolled in a licensed practical nursing (LPN) program. After a 12 months, I became an LPN and commenced my first nursing position as a triage nurse at a community health facility in Omaha, Nebraska. Shortly thereafter, I used to be offered the position of Perinatal Nurse Coordinator and given full control over the success of the maternity program. It was refreshing and I built bonds with women, and a few of them asked for my presence when their children were born. I used to be allowed to share their precious moments – an experience I’ll always remember. A couple of years later, I took an LPN position at a community health facility just 10 miles from my home. I desired to grow to be an RN, but first I had to seek out the financial resources to accomplish that. I discovered the Iowa West Foundation’s STARS scholarship program, a non-traditional scholarship program for custodial parents and grandparents, that helped me pay for college. I principally had to start out from scratch because almost not one of the credits from my veterinary science classes transferred over. It took some time, but I earned my associate’s degree in nursing. Considering the whole lot I did during college, working two jobs, being a wife and mother, and caring for all of the livestock, I be ok with my path. Now, after three years of being an RN team leader, supervising medical assistants, and providing support to multiple healthcare providers, I like what I do and do my best for my patients.

Do not get me mistaken! Sometimes I miss being a full-time vet, and yes, I still take care of my very own animals – horses, cows, pigs, chickens, geese, geese, dogs, cats, and the occasional raccoon. But I’m pleased with where I’m today. Everything I even have done thus far has made me a well-rounded person and a greater caregiver.

Even though I even have finally found my area of interest, I still work in the hearth department and luxuriate in many other fun things in life, comparable to customizing a vintage 1958 Renault Dauphine with my dad, who works on his Studebaker. Life is simply too short to not enjoy the whole lot it has to supply.