EMERGENCY NURSING – THE MOST INTIMATE JOB
JORDIN’S STORY
Over the last few years, I’ve found beauty in emergency nursing, but it wasn’t easy. In the beginning, it was terrifying…You get a sick patient, check the vitals and despite you and your team’s best interventions, they don’t get better. For a moment, you look into your patient’s eyes and your heart sinks, because its no longer Mrs. Smith in room 22, it’s your mom.”
A TERRIBLE CHANGE
While my formal career as an Emergency nurse has only been for four years, it actually all began on a bitterly cold night in November of 1993. I was only two years old when three factors dramatically changed everything. A car, a tree and no seatbelt.”
FIERCE PASSION
My mother was involved in a terrible car crash. It left her paralyzed from the chest down. Her spinal cord was barely hanging on and her vertebrae, but she managed to rehabilitate the use of her arms. Did I mention she was passionate and fierce?
NURSES I'VE MET
During my high school years, my mom became sick more than usual. Our lives were filled with Ambulances at the house, ERs, ICUs and I slowly became more familiar with the workings of a hospital. I never knew what a nurse did but I met great nurses who relaxed my mother, who listened to her story and made her comfortable. I wanted to be like them. But I also met nurses who were careless and cold. Some, who saw my mother cringing and crying but they didn’t bat an eye. I can still feel what it was like to have a good nurse when it came to my mom
OUT OF PAIN
23 years after the crash, illnesses and nursing school, I walked into the ICU. I saw her vitals and the drips…I held her close but I knew she was leaving. I managed to call my family and friends. Mostly, I had to reconnect to being her daughter, as opposed to her nurse . I told her how much I loved her and how beautiful, strong and amazing she was…. And by God, she was. I was with her when she passed. There was no pain. Just me, by her side. Her best friend and trusted nurse
CONNECTIONS
A few weeks later, I had come back to work in the Emergency Room. I was caring for a woman in her 50s with a newly diagnosed, end stage cancer. Her daughter was glued at her bedside and I felt a connection to them instantly. While the Emergency Department is incredibly busy, CONNECTIONS: I was drawn to the room just to talk with them. Despite the terrible circumstances, they joked and made fun of each other. They both were nurses as well.
I AM HERE
I AM HERE: Later, the daughter stepped out of the room. She looked drained. I asked her who was with her to help?” “Just me”, she said. And that’s when I hugged her. I told her she could always find me in this ED and that she was not alone. We shared stories and I told her about my mom. It was the first time I spoke about her with a smile.
BECOMING A NURSE
My experiences on both sides of the stretcher have given me the ability to make meaningful connections. It has strengthened my advocacy and love for my profession. Today, I always teach my new grads that, “despite the situation, illness, preconceptions or attitude, you treat your patients as if they were your dearest family member. Because to someone, they are. Do that, and you’ll become a good nurse.