Professional nursing has been my career - my calling, really - for 30 years. I can't say I never thought of trying something else. In fact, I did think of trying something else many times.
When I was a young teen I wanted to be a Pan American stewardess and learn a second language. At one point later on, I almost finished an undergraduate degree in wildlife biology. I was enrolled in divinity school at another point. But nursing kept coming back around no matter how far I strayed.
I have been entrepreneurial throughout my career. I have worked in almost every nursing specialty and have had my own private practice. For as long as I can remember I have been intrigued by the mysterious ways the human body heals itself.
Even as a child, I was keenly aware that healing comes from within a person, and my nursing education affirmed my intuition.
I've been a legal nurse consultant, a nurse massage therapist, and am a founding member of the American Holistic Nurses' Association. I have cared for soldiers from seven different wars, for the homeless, the hopelessly ill, the rich, and the famous.
I've held babies being born and elders dying. I've made mistakes, and I've found the solution to unsolvable problems.
I've cared for patients who had what I call "old bodies" - bodies made from natural foods, fresh air, clean water, hard work, and deep emotions forged from even harder lives and times.
I've worked with pioneers who crossed the plains moving westward; farmers who tilled their land with horses; fishermen who survived unimaginable storms; ranchers who injured themselves tending their cattle, sheep, horses; and survivors of the polio epidemic, the Great Depression, and the Holocaust.
I've worked with loggers, Native Americans from impoverished reservations, and first generation immigrants from the rest of the world.
I practiced as a family nurse practitioner with a master's degree in primary health care for individuals, families and communities before I moved full time into life coaching.
I had a beautiful practice in which I focused on rural health care, integrated health care, and professional development.
When I was first in nursing school I was in Boston, Massachusetts. I took my nurses cap to the Chinese laundry down the street to be starched into shape. I wore a white - and I mean white - uniform with a hem below my knees (no pants) and a hair style that kept my long hair above my collar.
I wore white stockings and white shoes; even my shoelaces were inspected for their whiteness. Scrubs were worn in the operating room and lab coats were worn in the lab. We addressed each other formally.
My advice to you as you begin your nursing practice is based on what is the same as ever. You may take it or leave it, but here it is:
Become a self care expert
Heal your wounded self
Go to the bathroom when you need to
Wear sensible shoes
Learn to say no
Develop your intuition, sense of touch, power to pray
Listen with your eyes, ears, and heart
Trust your intelligence
Learn all you can
Get online
Watch the experienced nurses carefully
Share your information, knowledge, best practices, and wisdom
Be willing to be wrong; courageous enough to ask questions; vulnerable enough to say I don't know; authentic enough to acknowledge your brilliance
Be humble enough to say "I'm sorry"
Be decisive enough to take a stand for what you think is right for your patient
Share your life's experience
Get a mentor, a coach, or both, to support this incredible journey
You'll get the rest of what you need to know from the books. It's all written down somewhere.
I imagine that you have been giving careful thought to this decision to enter nursing school. It is a big investment - mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially.
Congratulations. May you be richly blessed by the gifts you give and receive?
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