I observe.
I search for people who are inspired and have the ability to make nursing work for them.
I love nurses.
I love nursing, the most noble of professions. I believe this in every fiber of my being.
There’s an intrinsic force within each of us that drives us to do what we do.
Something profound brought each of us to nursing.
The rough seas of healthcare can make our personal navigation tools useless.
And so we drift or crash.
We want the leaders to reduce the waves and wind.
But the leaders are busy bailing water out of the boats in many cases.
Some nurses figure out how to make nursing work for them, really work for them on personal levels, as well as professional levels.
Who are these nurses?
I met ‘Nurse Celia’ several years ago. She is one of those nurses.
“Hello, my name is Nurse Celia”. She had such a calming presence and energy that it suspended me from my usual line of thought and talk as a leader on rounds.
All I could muster was, “tell me about yourself.”
What I absorbed from her through every pore:
- She’s always referred to herself as ‘Nurse Celia’
- “Being a nurse is who I am, so it’s my name”. End of that discussion.
- Patients, nurses, physicians all referred to her by that name, with no question.
- Nurse Celia works clinically at two different hospitals, one fulltime and one per diem, to give her a new experience. She likes the flexibility of nursing and depth of experiences.
- She had been offered leadership and education opportunities along the way.
- Nurse Celia has her BSN and a masters (I think?). She loves learning.
- She is active in her community with her husband. They travel often. Both are independent spirits. Their children are grown. It was clear that her nursing fits their life style and nursing fills her personal and professional needs.
- What does nursing give you? Nurse Celia said, “I’m here for my patients”, “I can make them comfortable, answer their needs, share my nursing knowledge and wisdom.” “I have a lot to give them and they know it pretty quickly, just by being here.” “This feeds me.”
- How did you arrive at this clarity? “I love learning, change, seeing what is out there, I love being a nurse… I learn”
Nurse Celia is navigating her own boat…. Right past the rest of us.
Her sails are full, right into the wind.