Quote of the week #6 - has it really been that long??

“I was asked to act when I couldn't act. I was asked to sing 'Funny Face' when I couldn't sing, and dance with Fred Astaire when I couldn't dance - and do all kinds of things I wasn't prepared for. Then I tried like mad to cope with it.” - Audrey Hepburn

Quote of the Week #5

"My father used to say, 'Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument.'" - Desmond Tutu

Quote of the Week #4 and still rollin'...

"The unreal is more powerful than the real, because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because its only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on.” - Chuck Palahniuk

Turn, turn, turn....

It is time for a change. I have switched out my colors for the last 2 hours - with help from Lora! - and I think I'm satisfied! Unfortunately, I do not have the patience to go back to previous posts to change my random coloring. If you read them - just highlight them to see better. Otherwise, I don't care :) Thanks for coming!!!

Quote of the week #3

So I am up way past my bedtime writing a paper for my CNA class - certified nursing assistant - and I thought it was worth sharing. (Although I am pretty sure I should have seperated it into a few more paragraphs. to tired to care.....) Then I realized it was waaaaayyyyyy past Tuesday, I had no quote for the week yet! So I changed the title. And here you go :)

When you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life.

I thought all my friends in high school were crazy for choosing careers in the medical field. Almost all of them were certified nursing assistants by the time we graduated. I thought the very idea was appalling! I hated the idea of cleaning up after myself, let alone anyone else! I did not understand the ethics and motivations that I now appreciate in this field. I did not, however, have any idea of what it was I actually wanted to do with my life.

I started out of school working in manufacturing. I did enjoy the paycheck, but my job did not make me feel complete and fulfilled. I knew people were buying my products, but i wanted more. I was also going to college at the time. For what, I had no idea; but my desire for direction was mounting. I realized that I liked my work-study job in the cafeteria of the college more than my classes. My grades were dropping as I spent more time in the kitchen. That, I decided would be my path. I eventually landed a position at a local nursing home, cooking the evening meal. I enjoyed my job immensly, yet I still felt that there was something more I should be doing. After about a year, I realized that my favorite part of my day was interacting with the residents of the home while washing tables. Most people would have jumped into NA class immediately. I was mad. I was upset that I now felt a desire to enter a field that I had teased people about for so long! Thankfully, it didn't take me too long to get over that. I enrolled at the college once again; this time I took the 75 hour NA course. I did my clinical's at the nursing home for which I worked. I am still very glad I chose this route because I could focus so much more on what I was learning. I didn't have to worry about where things were and what name went with which person. Not long after becoming certified, I moved to Des Moines and took a 60 hour advanced NA course. I began doing staff relief immediately after and cried for two weeks straight! I do not recommend staff relief directly out of class. I was thrown into unfamiliar places with short staff and even shorter instructions. I will say that I learned as much those two weeks as I did during my NA courses. Only test anxiety didn't compare to my stress level then! I talked with my supervisor and we decided that home care would be a much better choice for me. I cannot express in words how much I loved my home care position. The one-on-one care was fulfilling and rewarding to both myself and my clients. I enjoyed the patients with Alzheimer's the most. I saw how nursing and different medical situations directly affected the other staff, the patient, the families, and the communities. Home care provided me with a vast knowledge of how people cope with medical changes and emergencies, and with death. It did not, however, leave me much time to advance my degree. That is how I have come to be at Mercy Medical Center. I first worked as a transporter for the Ultrasound department. I hoped I would be able to learn the layout of the hospital setting, both physically and medically. I took advantage of all the people I met, by asking them a multitude of questions about their departments and career choices. I switched to a weekend job in the emergency room to make time for school and learn about a part of the hospital I was still not familiar with. After three years at Mercy, I have decided to pursue nursing. I have not yet decided what division of nursing in which I would like to specialize; I am hoping clinical's will expose me what I need for that decision.

Here I am, eight years after graduating high school, and not at all where I envisioned. I am in a much better place than I ever imagined. Nursing is not just a career choice to me, it is a life choice. Everything I have learned and done has made me a better person, and hopefully has done the same for my patients. I enjoy helping others through their times of need, even if it only to get them a warm blanket. What motivated my friends to become CNA's, even with my jeers, has become evidently clear to me today. I strive to keep the motivations and ethics always prevalent in my life. I want to be a nurse.

So, yes, I have to take the class again for nursing school. Just to explain that there. And why can I not tab on here??? Would someone please explain that to me?!?!?!

Have a good week!!