On work...

I have been a registered nurse for over 15 years. This career has given me amazing opportunities to grow, not only in my profession, but as a compassionate, caring individual. I have learned and will continue to learn more than I ever thought I would, not only about medicine, but about people. Being a nurse is incredibly rewarding.

When I became a nurse, I had no children and thought I probably wanted to take on the world and become a nurse manager one day. My perspective has changed throughout the years, and, though I once worked full time, I now work about 6 days a month, which allows me to take care of my family and still work in this amazing field. Being a specialty nurse, placing PICCs, gives me a unique perspective of the hospital, in that I get to visit every unit from the ICU's, to the Burn Unit, and from the medical floors on up to the Hunstman Cancer Hospital.

The past few weeks have been some of the most trying in my career. It has made me consider every aspect of what makes me who I am when I walk into a patient's room, when I talk to a young burn patient's family, and when I communicate with physicians and my peers. Ultimately, it has made me realize how passionate I am about what I do.

"When I think about all the patients and their loved ones that I have worked with over the years, I know most of them don't remember me nor I them. But I do know that
I gave a little piece of myself to each of them and they to me and
those threads make up the beautiful tapestry in my mind
that is my career in nursing."
~Donna Wilk Cardillo, A Daybook for Beginning Nurses