Too many GOODBYES

Enjoying one of our last happy hours at Rootdown!

The last couple of weeks, I have had to say goodbye to two nurse's that are absolutely amazing!  Last week we said goodbye to Karen and this week we said goodbye to Ann...these two women have taught me so much in the last year and half that I have worked with them!!  I know that their future will be bright!

Karen is that person that could never hurt a fly!  She is nicest, sweetest, most caring person that I have ever met!  She is out to do her job 110%!  Not to mention she is the most fashionable person on the planet!  Good luck in your new job, move across the states, and in school!!!  I know that you will be great!  We have suffered a loss, but know that you are spreading your wings an flying!!!  I will miss you!!!

Ann is the greatest person ever!!!  She is so talented and Germany will be gaining a fabulous person and nurse!  Ann and her husband are making their way back to Germany after having their first child! You were my go-to girl when I wasn't quite sure of my knowledge as a nurse!!  I have asked you so many questions that you could have probably been my nursing professor!  Thank you for all you knowledge an help!! Take care of little Johanna, she is the most precious little girl EVER!!!  I will miss you so much!!

Sarah and I with baby Johanna!

Sabra and I never miss a party!!! :)

Isabel and Johanna just love each other!!  

Teacher Love

Teacher's and Nurse's share the same week...being a nurse, there is no better profession than teacher's to share this appreciation week with!  My mom has said several times that she is proud that her daughters all chose a profession that is caring, giving, and compassionate.  I listen to the stories of that my sister's and mom have when they spend 5 days a week in a classroom, and I begin to imagine if I was a teacher...and there is no way!

Dealing with those children that aren't mine for 8 hours/day, 5 days/week...NO THANK YOU!!!!  

But, my sister's and mom love their career and they are the best people for it!  They are amazing at what they do, they enjoy it, they work hard to be the best, they put the children's needs before their own, and they go home every night just to get up and do it again the next day!  Their effort to help the children of the future is amazing!  

There are those teacher's through out my life that I will never forget whether it was elementary, middle school, high school, or college...some believed in me; others did not, some cared; others did not, some worked hard to get me through; others did not, some understood; other's did not...but I made it...and without the ones that gave me their all because they knew that I would make it in this world are the ones that touched my heart and will never be forgotten! Not to mention, I had three teachers that were always behind me 100%!

Teacher's make many sacrifices and are are special kind of person.  My life is was blessed with amazing teachers that helped me to get through school and begin my career, as I go through my career they are still there educating me on things that I need to know to take better care of my patient's!

My personal life is blessed with the 3 best teachers in the world.  My sister's and my mom, I love their stories, their heart, and their sacrifice they make to be the best darn teacher's around!

My older sister, Jera is a gifted teacher in Sioux Falls, SD.  Even though she is teaching children that are smarter than me, she holds her own and is the best as they come!  Her passion for teaching is AMAZING!!!  I look up to her more than she knows!!

With my favorite teachers in Vegas!  Teachers gotta have fun every now and then!!!

My mom has been a special education teacher for over 35 years!  She is the epiphany of teachers and puts her whole heart and soul into her profession!  

My baby sister, Tori, is in her 3rd year of teaching!  She is teaching in the elementary school that all 3 of us girls went to and teaching along side teachers that were her elementary teachers!  She is amazing at what she does and strives to be the best!

HAPPY TEACHER'S WEEK!!!!

What do I do....

There is a link-up floating around the blog world with a topic for each day of May.  This is the first day that I have participated, but I thought it would be a good day to start since it is nurse's week and the topic is "What do I do".

When I think about my career, where I am, how I got there, what I hate the most, what I love the most...the list could go on and on, but basically I AM A NURSE...however to me, it is so much more.

When I am getting ready for work I often wonder how my night is going to go.  Will I have a super sick patient and run around like crazy for 12 hours, will I have a needy patient or family that will be on the call light every 5 minutes, will I have a dying patient that just wants me to sit in silent prayer with them, will I have a patient that will eventually become someone I look forward to seeing every day I come to work...you just never know what you are going to get...some nights are better than the night before, and some nights you wish you would have called in.

For me, my job is holding the hand of a dying patient that doesn't have family as they take their last breath, recover an open heart patient from the OR while explaining all the lines and tubes to their family, hugging the 14 yr. old girl that is losing her dad to brain death while trying to explain to her how many people he will help by making him a donor, helping the young adult realize how much they have to live for and to not give up, being an ear to listen to a mother as she sits at the bedside of her child that is on life support after an overdose, giving silent prayer to the family that can't get along when their loved one is critically ill, teaching the young man about having a heart attack.

For me, my job is cheering for the patient that passed gas, giving praise to the open heart patient that is walking for the first time after surgery, encouraging a patient to push themselves even though it's painful, teaching a patient things about their disease that they never knew, praying with a patient, making sure that my patient has the best care they have ever received, learning something new every day that I go to work, looking forward to going to work, sitting in church every week and praying for the patients, staff, and family members that I encounter, dreading the holidays and weekends because I have to work and miss time with my family.

But it is more...
It is so much more...
More than I can physically type...
More than I can think about at this moment...
More than I can express on this blog...

My career has made the person that I am today.  I have learned about myself, other people, life, heart ache, happiness, and most of all compassion.  I often wonder...would I be as caring as I am today if I didn't chose this profession...would I be satisfied with life if I wasn't a nurse...would I love my job...

There are many times I wonder what I would be doing if I wasn't a nurse, and I can not think of one thing that I would rather do than be a NURSE!!!