gogrady

I Am a Critical Care Nurse I graduated from the University of Clemson South Carolina in 2009. I started out working in long term care assisted living and intensive critical care. When I was younger I always dreamed of working in the medical field. While my mother was a lab technician and nurse my decision to become a nurse stemmed from my deep desire for helping others. I love being a nurse because it allows me to see the total picture of medical care over a patient. As a nurse I am the gate keeper of patient care. I oversee everything that comes in contact with my patients. That responsibility and privilege is perhaps the most rewarding experience of my life. As a nurse I treasure all of my experiences with the people I come into contact with even the difficult ones. My most rewarding experience though was while working on a pediatric ward I had a psychiatric patient who had done horrible things to her siblings and couldn't remember any of it. I had to put aside my own bias to her actions and see her as my patient. Our connection was amazing. While everyone else could only see this horrible thing she had done I saw her as a person. I can't even describe how that experience moved me and continues to move me as I reflect upon it. Perhaps the most difficult challenge I encounter as a critical care nurse and as a nurse in general is the constant balance of aggressive care and therapeutic care. Are we doing enough for our patients? Are we doing too much? Is this the best care that we can give and is it what the patient and their family truly want? This is a constantly evolving dynamic for the science and art of nursing. One extraordinary experience in the critical care unit was listening to a Retired Vietnam solider before he died as he reflected upon his regrets and satisfaction with the things he had seen and experience throughout the war. What he told me was perhaps the most incredible and disturbing story I have ever head in my life. I was utterly shocked, amazed and completely lost for words by the time he finished and we were both in tears and laughing. He soon after became unconscious and died shortly after. Sitting alone in the room with him I was overcome with a sense of wonder at the fragility and beauty of this miracle we know as life. After a busy and grueling day in the ICU I like to ride home in silence and reflect upon the day. I pray often and enjoy the time I have left with my family and friends thanking God for everyday I have and try not to take anything for granted.