Nursing
Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work. Mother Teresa
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- My first experience in Nursing was being a candy striper. This was in the 70's! I got to dress up in a pretty pink striped jumper and talk to the patients and bring them water and magazines. It was my third day when they asked me to help out on the cardiac (heart) floor. The RN asked me to fill the water for the patients, but to be sure to check with their nurse first because some patients couldn't have ICE in their water - or it could give them a HEART ATTACK!!! I never went back. I thought if I can kill someone with ICE, I need more education to be around patients.
- A few years later my father was a patient and I ended up spending a lot of time at the hospital watching the nurses. One morning I came to see my father and he said he had not gotten any sleep because the nurses were noisy and never turned his light off. This time I thought, "I can be quiet and turn the lights off for patients, I can learn to be a nurse" and I did!
- Even though it was grueling and heartbreaking work at times, I have never felt such a sense of purpose and fulfillment as when I was helping a patient. I hope to lead and teach others to love nursing as much as I have.
