Carolyn - Making a Difference in a Different Way

Carolyn -







I came to nursing as a second career. For years I worked in the field of business accounting. It was something I fell into, but it left me professionally unfulfilled. I felt called to nursing, and specifically to emergency room care. I wanted to impact the lives of those who need care in a hurry, and that’s why the ER caught my attention.

I was drawn initially to the diverse nature of the patient population in emergency work. A nurse doesn’t care what the patient's background is or how much money they make. We don’t care what they did to land in the ER. We’re just there to take care of that person and we’re going to give them the best care we can.

Knowing that I make a difference – that’s what keeps me in my field. Nurses know we have an impact on people's lives; there’s no doubt about it. That's why nursing fulfills me in a way that accounting never could.

In a health care facility, the nurses work closely with physicians and other interdisciplinary folks--that's essential, but the nurse is the one who actually manages the hands-on, every day care. Maybe we should be called Care Managers because we manage all aspects of what happens in the patient’s room, including the patient.

I’m a toucher. I reach out and comfort patients by touching their hands or their forehead. It's how I extend my respect and humanity. When patients are lying on the gurney, they’re at their most vulnerable state, and they're frightened. Sometimes they can’t talk, but they can see you and feel you. Sometimes all they need is eye-to-eye contact and a touch that shows someone is there for them.

Although I loved the work, I got burned out on emergency care. After a few years of full-time work, I felt myself “hitting the wall.” I had high expectations for myself and felt the need to pick up any unfinished work, which, when coupled with an understaffed ER, led to my exhaustion. My cup was empty.

Yet, if there’s no one else to do the work, there’s no other option except to do it yourself. You don’t abandon your patient.“I’m a toucher. I know how to comfort a patient by touching their hands or their forehead. It's how I extend my respect and my humanity.” We have technicians, but patients need a nurse with critical thinking skills, experience, and expertise to care for them when they're ill. Right now our patient population is getting sicker and sicker. It's frightening. Because they have no insurance, patients either use the emergency room for primary care which bogs down the system or others wait until they’re terribly sick and then they need emergency department.

The irony of the health care system is that nurses drain themselves in order to give the best possible care to their patients. A nurse's needs as a human being always come second. We don’t do a good job of taking care of ourselves as care providers.

When it got to a point where I was just too tired to keep giving, I stepped away from bedside nursing. But I found a way that I could still provide care and at the same time keep my own cup filled: working in education and prevention where I can make an exponential difference in the number of cases seen at the emergency room…alcohol abuse education.

Working in the trauma bay, I'd seen people with serious injuries, people with disabilities, families torn by injuries, most of them due to alcohol-related car crashes. At my present job, I work to reduce alcohol use among adolescents. I’m nursing and tending to people’s needs outside of the hospital but in the community, helping lay the groundwork for healthy lives. I no longer feel drained and discouraged. I'm keeping myself healthy and doing work I know helps save lives.

Power strategies: Responsibility, Making a Difference, Community
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