I was diagnosed with asthma at a young age and spent a lot of time in and out of the hospital. I remember how vigilant and tender the nurses were with my mother and I as they treated me for yet another asthma attack.
Draw up 100 mg of Propofol and 50 mg of Rocuronium. That’s a size 7.5 ETT, secured at 22 cm at the lips with a PEEP of 10 on 100 per cent.
Right now, I’m scared. I’m a nurse and my job is to face the beast the rest of the world is hiding from. Tensions are high and I adopt the anxieties of others.
I always dreamed of nursing in a fast-paced ICU, but had not thought about the deaths I would encounter in my role. No one warns you about them, or how traumatic they can be.
The speed with which I am compressing during CPR switches to the rhythm of the pop song playing on the clock radio by Tony’s* bed.
In 1989, i started working at a community detention centre as a correctional nurse. Up to then, I had 11 years of nursing experience, most of it in occupational health. Nothing prepared me for what I found locked away from society.
“Are you the nurse?” I heard a frail woman ask. I had just entered her room on the internal medicine ward. It was dark. “Yes, I am,” I replied, and gave her my first name. She told me her name was Donna.
Everything I know about being a nurse I have learned from my family. My mother is a primary care nurse in an outpatient oncology clinic.
In any sport, you have your all-stars. these are the big-name players who go out and hit home runs or make three-pointers. All-stars are a huge asset to any team, but they are not the only vital players for success.
I was born at Toronto’s Mount Sinai hospital in August 1995 with a lot of what society would refer to as ‘problems.’ But I like to think of my imperfections as awesome differences.
The final semester is done and my master’s degree complete. As i reach this academic milestone, I can’t help but reflect on how the journey to an MN has shaped my nursing career perspective.