"A Nurse"...by 11-year-old

[Zee_RN, BSN, RN]

One of my daughters was asked to write a couple paragraphs about their mom's job...this is what my daughter wrote:

"Nurses do many things, they use many tools, help people stay alive, and make sure people are healthy and can give medicine.

"My mom is a nurse in the ICU. The ICU is the intensive care unit, where she takes care of very sick people. My mom works hard helping these people who did stupid things, have confused families, are crazy, scared to death, and many other things. There are many tools she uses like ventilators, heart monitors, IVs and many more.

"Being a nurse is very hard and takes a lot of practice so be thankful for our nurses."

Wow...I guess they DO listen! Thought you might enjoy this 11-year-old's concept of nursing. Not too bad, eh?

[Her reference to "stupid things" is where I have emphasized to my kids the risks of smoking, alcohol abuse and drugs...I have told them about people ending up on ventilators and sometimes dying as a result]

[This message has been edited by Zee_RN (edited April 09, 2001).]

[theboss]

HI ZEE,

Sounds like she has her first grip on nursing. You may have a nurse on your hands.

If your child wanted to go into the profession, encourage or discourage? Just wondering. This was a refreshing post. thanks alicia

[oramar]

The child has a better grasp of a nurses job than the average manager. Congradulations to the nurse/mother for doing a superb job on both fronts.

[sharann, BSN, RN]

As a mom of an 11 year old too, I am proud to read such a beautiful tribute from your sweetie.

[nursejanedough]

Zee, sounds like your daughter has a good grasp on what you do. You should be proud. I am curious also, would you encourage her to go into nursing? PS: I used to make my son come up to the local nursing home where I worked whenever he had to be disciplined. I would make him visit with the elderly, etc. (He was 15). Then I felt guilty that this should not be punishment. (He's 20 now). We laugh now at some of the things he experienced, like standing in front of the exit door to prevent "Willie" from leaving. This was before those security bracelets and Willie would try to exit every 15 minutes making alarms going off. I told my son, "Stand in front of this door and don't let Willie leave." One day Willie had his cane with him, and my son thought for sure he was going to get bonked on head. Willie did not bonk him, and I am glad my son experienced a little of what I do. (He knows he will never work in nursing home!)

[Zee_RN, BSN, RN]

Thank you all. Yes, I am very proud of my daughter(s) [she's one of a set of triplets]. As to whether I'd encourage her to go into nursing...

At 11-years-old, she's got a ways to go. I would not discourage her. If, as she grew older and learned more about life and life's opportunities and wanted to be a nurse, I would stand behind her. I'd make sure she had no illusions however. If nursing is in her heart, then she'd better go for it.

However, right now she wants to be a fashion designer . (She used to want to be a nun!)