The first 8 years

     As a nurse your life gets busy. Busy enough that I went 9 years between my posts. I am going to summarize the first eight years and then dive more into being a nurse, my expectations, reality, and my future. 

    Graduation was a whirlwind. I was bright-eyed and full of hopes and dreams with my new career. I was offered and accepted a job at the University of Louisville (UofL) on the Med-surf unit. I was overjoyed to be starting a new job, to use my skills, and all in the city we were hoping to move our lives too. I had also applied to multiple other positions in and around Louisville and was offered a position on the Bone Marrow Transplant/Hospice unit at the University of Kentucky (UK) prior to my start date for UofL. It was a dilemma. UK offered more money and the population I wanted to work with but UofL was in Louisville, where we thought we were to be. In the end I chose the population and money and we moved to Lexington, KY without knowing anyone or having been there before. 

About 15 months into the BMT position I decided to explore my love for neonatal more. A lot of the oncology nurses I was working with felt stuck and that they could not change populations since they had been there so long and I was scared of being stuck. I like to try new things and have a passion for many areas of nursing, so I jumped. I only stayed in the NICU for 9 months. It is a very amazing and intense world. Some of the best nurses work in the NICU. I enjoy talking to my patients and connecting with them. While I loved caring for the babies, I missed my adult patients and I missed oncology. 

After discussing with nursing friends, my husband and family I chose a job in Outpatient Pediatric Oncology, The UK Danceblue Clinic. I was thinking I would combine my love for children and oncology. I had also done a rotation on the pediatric oncology unit at Vanderbilt during school. The clinic I worked in examined the patient, provided infusion, and did outpatient follow up/survivorship visits. We also saw a lot of hematology as well. It was such a rewarding job. The kids taught me a lot.

After working in the DanceBlue clinic for 2 years I changed positions and became the Hemophilia Nurse navigator. This position was a dual position. I provided direct patient care, lots of education for families and patients, and help navigate other areas of their life for Hemophilia patients of the UK hemophilia treatment center (birth-death). I also assisted with evaluating hematology and Oncology referrals for the DanceBlue clinic. This was another rewarding and educating position that I really enjoyed. 

After 20 months in the Hemophilia position I changed positions again. My son was in middle school at this time and was having some issues that the school did not agree were issues. We were thinking he might need homeschooled but either way I needed to have a job closer to home (I was commuting 45 mins one way) to help alleviate in any way we could. I took a job at the local Health department overseeing two grants along with helping with outreach. Again a new adventure and I enjoyed the flexibility as well as learning this side of government and nursing. There is a fantastic group of people who work for the Madison County Health Department in KY. Unfortunately Covid-19 had other plans for my nursing experience. Since my role dealt with a lot of community education and outreach, I wouldn't really do much with my job. I had the opportunity of learning about epidemiology nursing and assisted with many aspects of the Covid-19 efforts of the Health department. It was the biggest growth of my career and also provided me the opportunity of leadership. I helped train and supervise a team of 12 contact tracers for a year. This experience helped me develop mentally and emotionally as a nurse and leader. I am not grateful for all the things the pandemic took from the world but I did receive a lot of good from it. 

After working at the health department for 2 years (20 months of Covid-19) I was really missing my patients and wanted to start thinking about my future as a leader. I applied for several jobs at UK in outpatient oncology. I have learned what I enjoy and what I am good at. I am also at the point in my life and my career that I am not willing to settle anymore. In October of 2021 I started in the Multidisciplinary outpatient oncology clinic at UK working specifically with Neuroendocrine tumors and carcinomas. I have really developed a love for these patients and their family and have found a team of nurses who support each other and care about their patients. Its a large clinic but the management cares and the doctor I work with is the best (literally one of the best in his field). 

Throughout my journey as a nurse I have seen how different the "real world" is compared to school. While I feel there is no way to truly prepare you for what it is like to be a nurse, MTSU did a great job of giving me tools and knowledge about some things to expect. I was overwhelmed and cried a lot but not because this wasn't what I signed up for. I cried and was frustrated, overwhelmed, and unsure of myself because these were intense situations. These patients were so vulnerable and I wanted to make everything better. I wanted to help with all their situations, not just the medications or how to go home from the hospital. Losing a patient I had come to know very well. These were things I knew but the love you develop in caring for people and ensuring you advocate all you can, see the whole patient, and also care for the family was overwhelmingly what I was meant to do and I wasn't prepared for how much I would love it. There are bad days and frustrating patients but realizing how I was made to love others in this way was beautiful. 

So, what do I want to be when I grow up? Well I enjoyed navigating very much and do a lot of the same work in my current position. I also really enjoyed supervising and training. I have delveloped a passion for advocating for my co-workers as well as my patients. During my experience in various roles I have seen many different management styles and also seen the gaps between the staff, management, and upper management. I would Love to bridge the gap and to inspire and lead the next generation of nurses alongside the experienced and knowledgable nurses I know. I have decided that an MBA in Healthcare leadership is the most diverse degree and will help me be a stronger leader. I began class this fall and am already excited about the things I am learning and understanding the many sides to leadership and nursing inside of healthcare as a business. 

I hope to be able to combine the passion for my patients and my co-workers and help develop a work culture that is encouraging while also honest and helpful to the nurse. We all need rest, support, and to feel we are valued. Nurses are one piece of a well oil machined, but I would argue that we are the pivotal piece that keeps the machine running. We must be better about helping maintain the machine not just painting to make it look new again.