Darlene - I've Always Seen Life Through the Eyes of a Nurse

Darlene -







I had just graduated from high school in 1961 and was dating a boy who planned to go to medical school. I wasn’t sure what career I wanted to choose at that time. Shortly after graduation, my boyfriend was killed in a accident, which injured two others who spent most of the summer in the hospital. I visited them everyday and through the sorrow and grief and watching the care my two friends received, I decided to become a nurse.

After working as a nurse for a few years I began dating a doctor. We married, moved to Anacortes, and had two children.“I’m an activist at heart, and I am an advocate for the profession.” I wanted to work as a nurse at the hospital in Anacortes, but their policy prohibited a nurse from working in the same hospital aher husband. However, they would let me volunteer. I wasn’t happy with the policy, but they didn’t have a candy striper program, so I designed one and ran it with other volunteers for about three years.

I’m a natural caregiver, so I used my compassion and knowledge in other areas of the community. I was active with my children’s school and became an advocate for the nursing profession. All my volunteer work has been around public health. I’ve been on the Board of the American Lung Association of Washington for ten years and was recently elected to the National American Lung Association Board. I also ran for Seattle City Council on a public health agenda. My theme was, “You can trust a nurse for City Council.” I’m an activist at heart, and I am an advocate for the profession. I encourage other nurses to become advocates as well. Nurses are natural advocates for their patients, but they don’t get involved much with the nursing associations to lobby for better pay, better hours, and more slots in nursing schools. Those are the things that will help move the profession forward and encourage people to become nurses.

Even though I was using my nursing experience to serve the community, I decided since I couldn’t work as a nurse to try something different. I grew up in Kansas and now found myself living in Puget Sound and decided I wanted to know more about marine life. I returned to college and got a master’s degree in marine biology. I found that my education in nursing, which taught me to look at people holistically – the whole person, the whole family and the whole surroundings – carried over into biology and ecology. My master’s thesis concerned public health interests related to shellfish toxins. It was published and presented at an international conference. I then taught at Western Washington University and, after a few years, started my own consulting firm that helps people navigate through the “people side” of environmental issues.

I’m now 62 years old and plan to take a nursing refresher course next January and renew my nursing license so I can work in public health. My nurse friends say they need someone like me in the profession – mature, experienced and energetic. So, when I renew my license next spring, I will have come full circle in my nursing career. Nursing has always been a part of my journey, even though I wasn’t actively practicing for a number of years. I know I have had a rich life because of my circular travels.

Power Strategies: Advocacy, Community, Service
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