Why I Became What I Am

So I've been thinking for the last few days about why I really became an emergency room nurse. Here are a few reasons.

1. I want to make a difference in the world. I want to help people when they are at their most vunerable and let them know someone cares.
2. I want to never stop learning. Everyday when I go to work I never know what to expect. I always have to stay on my toes and alert to what my patients are doing.
3. I want to be challenged and pushed. I love figuring out new diseases, processes, and procedures. Nothing ever presents the same. I wanted to break out of my shell.
   
4. I want to better understand the human body--it fascinates me. I love seeing how the body heals and protects itself!
5. I want to uplift those around me including my coworkers--who are the best people by the way. I wanted to be in an environment where the staff works together.
6. I want to be an adrenaline junkie--I live off the adrenaline that comes when we are slammed or doing CPR on a someone bringing them back from the brink of death.
7. I want to see on a day by day how the Lord's hand works in peoples' lives. Some of the most spiritual experiences have come when watching a human being leave this world or fighting to live. The Lord makes this call, not me or anyone else, no matter how hard we work.

One of the coolest experiences I have had so far in my short career as a nurse happened this week. I was floating and went to cover a lunch. I get report about an ambulance coming: Older man, Glascowed at 15, difficulty breathing. I get this report as I watch the paramedics wheel around the corner with an older man who was clearly not conscious. I give the doctor a heads up and run toward the room. IV in, blood sent, Cat Scan ready to go within 10mins of being there. The patient was unconscious and would not respond to anything but deep painful stimuli. We were really close to putting a tube down his throat right away. After all the tests we did, including an MRI, there was still no change in his condition and we could not find anything wrong except that his blood pressure was through the roof! All his labs, scans, and EKGs were normal! Becky and I tagteamed this one and he ended up in the ICU for a few days. I got a recent report that he was no longer on the vent and actually talking to his family. I don't know if anything Becky and I did anything to change his outcome but it was good to hear that he was still going strong! Considering my code from a few hours before this didn't make it.

Okay another perk to working in the ER is being a part of the crazy people that we encounter. That same night we get an ambulance call saying "we are enroute to you facility with a few patients who have been at a party eating cookies." We all looked at each other for clarification. Yes, they had said cookies, however, these cookies were laced with TCH. The patient I got was totally faking it. I love how my sixth sense has gotten better in figuring out when people are being dumb. I stuck an ammonia capsule under her nose and she fought me. Oh the fun and stupid things people do.

So yeah nothing else is going on in my life sorry. My life really is pretty simple nothing to big going on. But despite my crappy schedule and the fact that my job is emotionally and physically draining--I love it!