I was just honored with an award for my blog. I never expected it, and it was a joyful surprise, and I haven’t had many of those lately. It’s never been a competition for me. It’s just been me, sitting at my laptop, and writing what is in my heart. Less of an ambition, than it was a form of self-expression. I prefer my words in the written format, because I am less astute at the speaking part of interactive communication. This recognition was a gift I think that I needed right now, with feeling somewhat uninspired as of late. So I am grateful for the kind words. It made me very happy and proud.
Being a nurse has been the one thing that I have been really good at; it’s how I define myself, even now. But I was having lunch with friends recently (all nurses) and we started talking about our most memorable experiences and patients… and we had some serious belly laughs… and some painful memories came up as well. It made me remember something that I heard that goes a little like this… “you pay for good days by having bad days, you pay for joy with pain”. And it was then that I realized that I almost forgot “her” name. I remember everything about her, from the day of her cancer diagnosis, to her last day on this earth in the PICU many years ago. As fate would have it, I was there for both. But I never want to forget her name. She was important and she was memorable… and she made a difference to all whom she met in her too-short life. She has always been one of my “reasons” for being proud of what I do for a living.
I have the heart of an empath; I can feel sadness and pain, and it makes me feel the same. I can feel joy and lightness, and it makes me feel alive. I am the happiest when I feel like I am doing something to help others, so when I feel like I am in a rut, I feel useless. And that is not a great feeling.
I currently work as a nurse for an insurance company; it’s a good job and I get to mostly work from home, which is a huge part of why I made this career choice. But as a nurse, it’s never been about insurance…never. Insurance is boring, let’s face it. Being a nurse is far from that. I can tell you that we never even considered it in our practice. That’s not to say that it wasn’t an “issue” in the medical management of our patients, just not “our” issue. I believe that we all deserve the same level of great care. Period. Hard stop.
That’s why it’s so hard for me to understand when my “members” (my pediatric patients) don’t get approved for important procedures/testing/consults with specialists that are out-of-network, etc., that could help with diagnosing, or managing, complicated medical and behavioral problems. I come from a place that always wants to help; to fix what is broken, but I can’t do that now. It’s not the way that this job works. But they try, and I try. And that’s important too. I guess I just need to remember my purpose in all that I do, whether I can see the outcome of that, or not.
Nurse's Notes 