Never underestimate the importance of experiencing the best and worst days in your nursing career with friends and colleagues who have walked those long hospital hallways right beside you. I always knew the reason behind my success, and decision to keep showing up when things got hard, was because of the special bond that we all shared with one another. Yes, it is always about our patients, but it is also about not dropping the ball when our team needs us.
I think this is what I miss the most. I miss the camaraderie and the connections. I miss feeling like I am a small part of a much bigger picture. I miss laughing when the only other emotional choice would be to cry. I yearn for the days where I wouldn’t have to look more than a few feet away for a friendly face who was willing to share a not-so-fun task with me, if for nothing else than moral support or a witness! I miss those days, but I will never forget them for as long as I live.
I often get asked to provide professional recommendations for many of the nurses that I have worked with in past roles as either a peer or manager. I see it as an honor that I am entrusted with this important step in creating new and exciting career opportunities for the people who continue to challenge themselves to learn and grow, for only change can provide new perspectives and ideas to help us to think and practice in a different way from what we already know. Today, as I completed one of those professional references for an old friend, I thoughtfully considered the last question, “What are the top 3 strengths of this candidate?”. All I could think of is “where do I begin…”. As a nurse who showed up to care for the sickest of the sick in 2020, in NYC, during the earliest, scariest, and deadliest time of Covid, the “strengths of a nurse” have new definitions, like courage and bravery, selflessness, and unparallelled dedication to her (or his) patients. In a time when the future was not certain, and science became so unpredictable, even deadly, showing up day after day, is really all that needs to be said. That’s the nurse who I want working beside me, whether we are in a pandemic or not!
Nurse's Notes 