I am needed by my father as he lies in his bed at a rehabilition center twenty miles from where I live. Brilliant and funny and always in command, now with an immobile right side and barely understandable speech, he's suddenly in a desperate condition. People enter his room and ignore him or talk to him as if his IQ is lower than his hemoglobin. I can't do everything for my father, but I try to save his dignity. People listen, not because I am my father's daughter, but because I am a nurse. I tease my father about whether the investment in my nursing education is about to pay off. I see the chuckle in his eyes when he grips my hand with his one strong hand and tries to tell me with eyes alone everything that he's always wanted me to know.
Being a licensed vocational nurse in the pediatrics department, I receive gifts everyday. Though intangible, I have the privilege of seeing people find the strength to deal with life's most difficult challenges. I have the trust of nursing students who believe I am worthy of being a role model. I get to see them grow, develop skills and realize potential that sometimes even they didn't know they had. Above all, patients, nurses, and other team members give me the most precious gift of all: knowing what matters in life. People think it's a compliment to tell a nurse you're smart enough to become a doctor, what they don't know is that nurse's choose this profession not because they are not smart, but because they want to do what nurses do. Each challenging day is interesting and draws on my emotional, intellectual, and creative reserves.
I know what I say and do as a pediatric nurse can change lives, especially when my little patient tells me she also wants to be a nurse because of the care I have given her. My nursing career has taught and inspired me to be a better mother for my two children and has made me a realist by showing me how precious life is. Being a nurse has given...