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Here are some snippets from: A career in nursing yields many rewards [The Republican,MA]

Written by By JOAN C. McGIRR

After receiving a request to write an essay about the practice of nursing for National Nurses Week, I began to think about how I would approach this essay. What would I include? What did I want to share about myself when I was a teenager, making a decision about my life's work? And, most importantly, why did I become a nurse?

As I reviewed my journey from high school student to an assistant nurse manager at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where I am coordinator of the Total Joint Replacement Program, what immediately struck me was what I like about being a nurse and why I have continued to be a nurse after more than 23 years.

As I focused on these accomplishments, I realized this is what I wanted to share with others who may be contemplating being a nurse, or considering how rewarding nursing is as a career.

The rewards of nursing are many. Patient contact rewards nurses with many benefits such as helping people heal and helping them to cope with their own illness, or that of a loved one. I especially love the relationships that I have with the patients and their families. It's extremely gratifying....

Witnessing improvement in the patients I care for and educating patients and their support network rewards nurses in ways that cannot be expressed in words. Mentoring and supervising other nurses of varying skills and educational backgrounds provides a professional challenge that can't be understated.

The respect from patients and others in the community for nurses is evident in my role as a hospital nurse manager at Baystate Medical Center, and in my work in community activities...

What makes me continue to enjoy my role as a nurse? Refining my skills by participating in ongoing education refreshes me and increases my level of performance. I obtained my certification in orthopedics in 1991 and by accomplishing this certification I demonstrated my practice expertise in orthopedics. Maintaining a leading-edge skill set provides self-fulfillment and allows me to be a more effective mentor....

Nursing offers versatility in practice settings - whether hospital nursing, community nursing, medical or surgical nursing, critical care nursing, psychiatric nursing, or any other fields of nursing that can be chosen - and this allows for continued growth and movement within our field.

Everyone has his or her own story about how or why they became a nurse.

For me, it dates back to when I was a 13-year-old, and the memories of a nurse I once had who was a great role model. It was her wonderful care and compassion that inspired me to become a nurse.

As a result, my journey began when I enrolled in a diploma school of nursing at St. Vincent's School of Nursing in Worcester. After receiving my diploma, I went on to earn my bachelor of science degree in nursing at American International College.

It's important to continue to grow in your profession, nursing or otherwise, and I am now planning to enroll in a new master's degree program for clinical nurses. Employers frequently provide tuition reimbursement for some or all of these programs and this makes it easier to advance one's education.

After examining my lifelong journey as a nurse, I would still make the same career decision today because it is "what I love to do." Nursing has enabled me to enjoy a career, while maintaining an active family life...


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