Reflections on a Career Chosen by Default: Part 3

As I re-work these posts from my original article I am struck by the fact that my life has been full of transformational experiences.  From the earliest days of my life I remember yearning for the next step.  Unlike many people I couldn't wait to grow up...now at 54 I still feel the same...what's around the next corner.

A mindset that is continually seeking growth and adventure is one that never gets old.  Given our short time here on earth, I want to live with that gusto as long as possible.  I've even been known to say I want to live to 120 because, after all, why sell yourself short!

Below are the next three gems I've gleaned from my career as a nurse...read them and see if they don't spark some sense of adventure in yourself.  Who knows, you, too may decide to pick up the quest again and make the most of the life you have yet to live!

SELF ESTEEM

With the discovery of my unique talents, being involved in saving numerous lives, and having the opportunity for continuous growth and ongoing self improvement, I can say without a doubt that my nursing career has directly impacted my own self esteem in a very positive way.

There were many times as a child where I felt inferior or less than those around me.  Even as a young adult those feelings plagued me.  When I was into the 'club' scene and dancing as often as I could there'd be nights where I'd look around at all the 'beautiful people' surrounding me and feel inadequate.   Now it didn't matter that I was already creating value in the world in my professional life.  The club scene was all about appearances and no one could tell by looking who I was.  It was a world that judged by appearances.

There finally came a point in my life where I had to dig deep enough to anchor the truth about my core.  It was there that I found real self esteem and it grew directly from what I had to offer the world.

So when you're feeling those twinges of insecurity, feeling 'less than' go to the mirror and look into your eyes and find the truth about you, the truth that is good and has value.  That's what I would do in those clubs so many years ago.  All it took was one look to realize I wasn't nearly as immaterial as I felt.  It's a simple strategy but it works!

ADDED VALUE

As I continue to enumerate the reasons why I have been truly gifted from my nursing career it becomes easier to see the contributions I have made to the individual lives of my patients and their families, but also to the nurses I have been blessed to work with.  I've learned from some of the greatest and most humble people on the face of this earth.

One of the most important women I've had the honor of working with was an LPN in Ohio who I credit with having taught me everything I needed for a solid foundation in nursing.  Shirley was not an easy person to work with, or so I was told.  The truth was, she was a damn good nurse and without her I may never have arrived where I am.  She was a beautiful blend of talent, hard work and fun.  She gave me a tremendous sense of self worth that I have leveraged into a career where I now add value to people’s lives.  Whether it's with a patient or a co-worker, the value is never only one direction.  The mutual relationship benefits both the giver and the receiver.

PEOPLE SKILLS/SOCIAL INTERACTION

Perhaps one of the most often cited reasons people go into nursing is to help others.  After many years in the field I began to reflect on the incredible people-skills I had learned.  Looking back, I can see how often I was picked to work with the ‘difficult’ patient or family member, and I realize how much joy I got from interacting with such diversity in the people who enter the health care arena.  That diversity had directly related to the opportunity to improve people skills and use my unique talents to make a contribution where others may have walked away because of the difficulty and challenge these people presented.

So the next time you face a difficult person or someone who challenges everything you believe in and think, pause, and wonder..."What would I do if I knew this person's behavior was driven by something so important, so incredible valuable they were willing to show up as my biggest problem?"

A little willingness to wonder sometimes opens doors we least expect and change us for the better.

Reflections on a Career Chosen by Default: Part 2

As I discussed in my last post, my career has been a truly transformational journey...one I could have never planned myself.  Today I want to continue with three more reasons I love my career and invite you to begin looking at the gifts you have reaped from your journey through life.

FINDING MY TALENT

When I graduated from nursing school it was a lot like graduating from any college.  I had to get out in the ‘real’ world and find out how to put my degree to work.  My nursing school instructors had taught us about ‘reality shock’ in the 'real' world beyond school but understanding it intellectually was nothing like experiencing it first hand. 

It was a rough and rocky start for me. 

In fact, one of my first supervisor’s told me I would never make a good nurse, then she intentionally tried to add insult to injury by saying I would be lucky to be an LVN/LPN.  Well, being young and inexperiences, I was sure she was right.  Luckily I was never raised to be a quitter.  So, I gathered myself up and went on down the road to apply for work at another hospital.  It was here that I received the unexpected offer to work as the charge nurse in the ICU. 

Looking back on it, I can see the humor in how that first interview went but at the time, I was dead serious.  When the Director of Nurses  offered me the job I told her I didn’t think it was the job for me because...and honest to God these were my exact words...I wasn’t a good nurse.  I can remember her smile and the conversation that followed.  The bottom line?  She promised they’d train me.  When I repeated myself she added "We won't leave you alone until you feel ready."  What could I say?  This awesome and incredible nurse believed in me and not only helped launch my career but unwittingly  helped me find my talent, because, I was never cut out to handle 30+ patients on a general med-surg floor where I had barely enough time to talk to each patient.  The ICU grants access to (and responsibility for) every single detail of one or two people’s well-being and care. 

It couldn’t have been better or more perfect fit for me.  I discovered it is better for me to handle the intensity of a crisis with sustained focus, and attention to subtle nuances, as well as the grueling hours of a high stress environment for 12 to 16 hours at a time.  Plus, I learned that in an emergency, when no one else steps forward to take charge, I can and do.

LEVERAGE/JOB VARIETY

Landing in that ICU early in my career surely helped to leverage my career in part because it honed my skills.  With those skills, nursing has offered me an incredible variety of job opportunities.  My willingness to learn and accept opportunity when it presented itself resulted in a long run of interesting and exciting jobs.  Aside from the ICU’s and ER’s, which are certainly exciting, I have had opportunities and experience  with spinal cord and head injuries in a rehab hospital, as a home health nurse and in hospice.  In a more wellness-oriented vein I was the coordinator for health promotion programs in four major corporations, have had my own case management business, been a clinical manager, taught full day workshops to other nurses on holistic nursing, coordinated performance improvement and staff education for a large home health company, been an auditor in a revenue management department for a county hospital system, handled financial and service contracts for incoming research protocols from medical schools, and contracted with attorneys for medical record reviews.  What do I do now?  Currently I work as a regulatory consultant, and will be teaching nursing students in an LVN school this fall.  You gotta love the variety.

LONGEVITY/REMAKING OF A CAREER

With all that variety comes a nice career with unusual longevity.  Most people face the challenge of transitioning to new careers at lest two to three times in their life time.  As you can see from the variety of jobs listed in the last paragraph, nursing has afforded me ample opportunity to remake my career without having to start from scratch.  In fact, longevity in nursing has been possible exactly because it has offered me such diversity.  It has truly offered me a journey like I could have never imagined.

In my next post, I'll begin with Reasons 6, 7 and 8...and a more personal look at how it has afforded me a truly transformational journey.