Each year since 1993, we celebrate National Nurses Week from May 6 through
May 12. Why not a standard week, Sunday through Saturday, you might ask?
It’s because the final day, May 12, also happens to be the birthday
of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. National Nurses
Week is a time for everyone – individuals, employers, fellow healthcare
professionals and other nurses – to recognize the vast contributions
and positive impact of America’s four million registered nurses.
This year, Catawba Valley Health System (CVHS) has another reason to celebrate
nursing, as we became the first hospital in North Carolina to receive
a fifth consecutive Magnet Recognition® for excellence in our nursing
practices. The Magnet program places an emphasis on constantly evaluating
and improving the practice of nursing to further improve patient care
and clinical outcomes, and with each Magnet Recognition, an organization
must show further improvement. CVHS is extremely proud of our nursing
staff, as well as the entire staff, for achieving this goal.
Nursing has a rich history of women and men serving their community, caring
for the sick, educating patients and families on caring for themselves
and providing acts of kindness as second nature. But what calls a person
to pursue a career in nursing?
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Christy Greene, RN, BSN, Nurse Adherence Educator with Catawba Valley Infectious Disease
Consultants, says that it was a family tradition. “I was drawn to
the nursing profession at a very young age because my grandmother was
a nurse. I remember thinking at the early age of 5, ‘I want to be
a nurse when I grow up.’ Never once can I recall wondering what
I was supposed to do for a career, I just knew nursing was my calling,”
says Christy.
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Shane Brown, RN, BSN, Resource Liaison Nurse in Psychiatric Therapy, wanted the satisfaction
of having a career that would allow him to help others. “This impacted
my choice of college pre-requisites,“ says Shane. “I knew
that I wanted a degree that would allow me to help people, but I didn’t
exactly know what that was. I found myself drawn to nursing due to the
diversity in the field. There are so many things one can do with a nursing
degree - you can care for patients, be an educator, administrator, researcher,
and so much more.”
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Joelle Calloway, BSN, RN-BC, CIC, Infection Prevention Directorexplains it simply, “Nursing
provides the greatest opportunity to care for people and have a career
at the same time!”
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Regardless of their reason for choosing nursing as a career, one thing
remains consistent among nurses – they all find it rewarding, for
various reasons.
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Maria Tilghman, RN, CPAN, in Pre Anesthesia Testing says, “I enjoy the fast pace
of this job, yet I am able to enjoy the personal interactions I have with
patients while retrieving the personal information they must share with
me to make their surgery experience safe.”
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Katie Windsor, RNC, BSN, in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit gains deep satisfaction
from her work and is humbled by the opportunity to make a difference in
the lives of others. “There are many families that I still keep
up with who made a journey through the NICU for various reasons,” she says.
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Ultimately, for all the nurses at CVHS, it comes down to outcomes and patient
experience. So, depending on the nurse’s role, that may mean different things.
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Jenn Anderson, BSN, RN, Staff Nurse, says “I want patients to leave Catawba feeling
physically better and confident in their ability to care for themselves
when they leave us.”
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Ann Moore, MSN, RN-BC, CEN, Emergency Department Clinical Care Manager, puts a personal
slant on it, “I know the kind of care I would expect my loved ones
to receive, so I strive to provide that level of care to every patient
I encounter and expect my colleagues to do the same.”
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Shane Brown adds, “In psychiatry, people come to us in their moments of crisis.
This could be for substance abuse or mental health issues. Often they
are at the most vulnerable point in life and it is rewarding to see them
go from crisis to stability and know that I had a hand in helping them
achieve their best.”
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The satisfaction of a nurse’s work comes simultaneously with good
patient outcomes and patient experience, often from the simplest act.
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Jenn Anderson shares an experience with a particular patient, “Recently, I was
caring for a patient with a very difficult diagnosis and complicated medical
history including dementia. On and off all day, I would try to calm his
worries and provide reassurance to him and his family member. However,
despite my best efforts, the severity of his disease made it seemingly
impossible for him to understand he was safe. It was heart-breaking to
see how frightened and agitated he was being in an unfamiliar environment.
At shift change, this patient was combative. Out of concern for him and
a desire to support the nurses I work with and for, I decided to take
him on a walk for 45 minutes. That walk made him at ease because it was
something he does at home. His daughter’s eyes filled with tears
as I told her I could stay and help make sure he was okay even as my shift
ended and the night shift began. She seemed in awe that I could give her
father my undivided attention and stay past my shift to help her and her
dad. She told me she was worried I might be penalized for not leaving
as soon as my shift ended. I explained that I work for a hospital that
encourages and supports nurses to make independent decisions to help their
patients at all costs. I deserve no thanks for just doing my job and I
am so grateful that I work for a place that supports nurses in making
their best efforts to help patients. This small victory felt like the
win of a life time. Without other nurses and nursing assistants helping
with my other patients, I would not have been able to spend the amount
of one-on one time this patient needed. It takes a village, and I truly
believe that I work for a hospital that uplifts and assists each other,
no matter what their job title is. We all support one another, and our
patients benefit from that in ways we don’t often recognize.”
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Ashley McGuire, RN, BSN, CPAN, PACU Charge Nurse, shares an opportunity she had with
a small gesture that made a difference for one of her patients. “I
helped care for a patient that had been in the hospital for several weeks
having a number of surgeries. He was still in the hospital during Valentine’s
Day and told me he was sad he couldn’t do anything for his wife
because he was stuck in the hospital. I was able to get his wife a Valentine’s
present from the gift shop and the patient was so appreciative, he began
crying. Honestly it made my heart so happy to bring a smile to his face
and to see him improve… that was thanks enough!”
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Nursing is, indeed, a great career opportunity for many people, and jobs
are readily available in healthcare organizations across the country including
CVHS. If you are interested in learning more about a career in nursing,
we invite you to visit one of the web links below:
https://www.catawbavalleyhealth.org/Medical-Center/Careers/Why-Work-For-CVHS.aspx
https://www.nursing.org/careers/
https://nursejournal.org/articles/nursing-careers/