At 1 o'clock in the morning, I found her wide awake reading a 9-lb Medical Surgical Nursing Book on her study table. An orange highlighter was held firmly by her right hand, highlighting the important words as she goes along. She religiously reads it page by page without minding the late hours. The next day, she was in front of the computer typing some reviewer. The following day she was writing another set of notes on the index cards that she would ask me to quiz her.
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She wakes up almost everyday at 5 am to prepare our breakfast and her snacks while getting ready for hospital duty at 7 am. It is such a wonder how she looks so refreshing with less than an 8 hour of sleep. She wears now her ironed white uniform, then her stretchy white full support anti-varicose vein pantyhose, and her newly shined white shoes. She does it in a fashionably, fast, and careful manner not to crease the uniform or run the pantyhose.
The food served on the table was cooling down as she ties her hair in a tight bun. Then she starts eating by chewing the food, at times chunking it down while watching the morning news. She looked at the clock, it was 6 o'clock; she swiftly grabbed her things and closed the door. I heard the clicking sound of a key. She was gone before I would even wake up.
By 5 pm, she was at home, lying on the bed with several pillows under her legs which served as an elevation to facilitate blood flow, she explained scientifically to me. She started with how her day went, the patients she handled, and some news with her colleagues. She would add that it was not permitted to disclose information about patients.
The stories of her patients were kept between us. It is not easy without an outlet of our emotions especially with nursing that allows one to absorb all emotions. For her, it was me that served as her outlet, like an online blog for others.
I spend my time with her when I can. She also has an online forum which she visits often, allnurses.com. I can see her posting any questions from complex drug computations to rants of nursing life. It had become one of her nursing tool.
In some other days, there was no time to chat when she goes home late at night or too tired to talk. She would rather sleep. She tries very hard to balance her time, by doing the laundry, all the cooking and some other school activities. One thing I have observed, she stopped cleaning around the house and doing the dishes when she started nursing school which is alright with me.
As the night crept in, she was back at her usual study table reading another large book. If she's not reading, I can see her writing the dreaded nursing care plans, researching, or preparing for a case study. I tried not to disturb her.
From time to time, she would take her so called 'mini break'. She would sing, or dance or go out for a walk. I would be sleeping by the time she comes back. It was just an ordinary yet extraordinary day for a nursing student.
Occasionally, she'd go out for a friendly dinner or attend a birthday party. I thought she has no more social life for these events seldom happen. As I can recall, she never went out for a date. I tried to remind her that but expectedly prioritized other things.
One day, I told her how I appreciate her hard work in studying and time management. She simply smiled. I knew that nursing was something special for her.
Wishing all the best to all future nurses! Nurses' rock!
