A week that I love so much!

Being a nurse is one of the things that I am the most proud of. My meager year and a half of working with mamas and babies was challenging, difficult and tiring but it was also oh so rewarding.

I have always said, and continue to stand by my statement, that if Jesus were to be on this earth now, I think he would be a nurse. What a better way to love other humans than to take care of them physically while having the opportunity to love them at some of their most vulnerable moments.

There is something so amazing about having the opportunity to watch a mom feed her baby for the first time, or to help a mama up to the bathroom after bringing new life into this world. As a nurse you get to do the big things. You get to literally save lives. You administer life saving medications, you perform CPR, you can notice when a baby’s blood sugar drops and take all the appropriate measure to make it rise. You can resuscitate a baby who comes out without that relieving cry. You spend so much time with your patients and you notice the little changes and can prevent devastating events from happening. However, as a nurse you also get to do the little things. You get to make sure their water jug never empties. You get to teach a father how to swaddle his child You get to remind them that the many weeks of bedrest will all be worth it when they get to meet the mini human their body is housing. You can bring them warm blankets, you can bring them warm smiles. As a nurse, YOU are the face that patients see the most frequently. WHAT A GIFT.

Ugh, I could go on and on. I love nurses, I loved being a nurse. The adjustment of not being a nurse when I moved was hard. Even though the days were long, and many days I left work holding back tears because of the sheer stress, being a nurse was such a beautiful thing.

I miss the coffee and donut runs (ahem, Jenna), I miss the family of coworkers and the love that was formed, I miss power-walking down to an emergency c-section while shoving a PB&J into my mouth because I didn’t know when I would eat next. I miss getting to bathe a baby for the very first time.  I miss picking out hand made crocheted hats for each baby I took care of. I miss the relief of sitting down for the first time in the shift. I—dare I say—miss working a 12 hour shift on my due date. I miss Karen’s cake balls that I may or may not have snuck down to LDU to steal. I miss getting to listen to the cute little heartbeat of the mama’s that were on bed rest. I miss the newborn snuggles, I miss the laughs between coworkers, and I miss the busy, busy days.

The funny thing about humans is that we always tend to desire what we do not have. I know that while I was working, I so desired a break. And now, as I am not working as a nurse, I so desire to be a nurse. We always tend to think with a “grass is always greener on the other side” mentality. I miss nursing, but I am so confident that it is not what God has called me to in this season of my life. I praise him for my time as a nurse, and who knows what will happen later in my life. I mean seriously, what could be better than snuggling newborns and playing cards all day? Just kidding, I just had to throw in a joke for Senator Walsh somewhere in this blog!

To the future nurses: You can do it. You can get through taking the seemingly unimportant prerequisites, you can get through nursing school and you can get through clinicals. Even if it means you write on a post-it note that says, “You cannot quit nursing school” and stick it on your laptop (it worked for me), you can do it! There is light at the end of the tunnel. Stick with it and always remember that you are a brave person. God made you courageous. It’s okay if you’re scared (my first day of clinicals I cried because I had to wake up an elderly lady and didn’t know how), but don’t let that stop you bringing love and joy to your patients. Step into uncomfortable situations. Ask for opportunities and ask for challenges. I will never forget the moment I was shadowing an ER nurse and a trauma patient came in. I asked if I could watch in the corner, they told me to gown up because I would do compressions. It was terrifying and I was scared, but it was oh so worth it.

To the new nurses: Your first six months are hard. You are thrown into a whirlwind of learning what nursing school can’t teach you—what it looks like to be a “real” nurse. Give yourself grace. No one is expecting you to be perfect (like that time I accidentally called “STAT NICU” instead of the pediatrician). No one is expecting you to know it all (one time, I asked a doctor for a prescription for my patient  for a medication that does not exist). Ask questions. Seek help. Find someone to talk about it with. Whether it’s another coworker, a friend or your mama. Find someone who you can call after work just to talk about your day. I promise you there will become a time where you feel more confident. I literally didn’t sleep well for the first couple months of being a nurse. It gets better. Find things to help. Workout, drink a mighty good cup of coffee, find a hobby. It gets better.

To the old nurses: You are amazing. You have so much wisdom, and the amount of respect I have for you is outrageous. You are who I went to with questions (so many questions), and you were there so quickly if I needed help. You are the rock of most nursing floors. Thank you for your help. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for sacrificing so much of your life to loving your patients, and to help other nurses learn your magical ways.

I am proud of many things in my life. I am so proud of being a mama to the sweetest little boy. I am proud of being a wife to my kind, strong, steady husband and I am proud to be a nurse.

“To do what nobody else will do, a way that nobody else can do, in spite of all we go through; that is to be a nurse.”
– Rawsi Williams

“It is not how much we do – it is how much love we put into the doing.”
– Mother Teresa

“I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
– E.E. Hale

 (Three quotes instead of one because I am indecisive and can’t say no to a good quote😉)