Get to know your nurses

Happy National Nurses Week!

health enews is proud to celebrate The Advocate Nurse and the critical role nurses play each and every day in providing the very best care to individuals, families and communities. Far too often, nurses don’t get the credit they deserve, but their incredible and invaluable service truly lies at the heart of health care delivery. They are trusted caregivers, skilled educators, critical thinkers and above all else, devoted patient advocates. As Florence Nightingale once said, and as is true of so many nurses, “I never gave or took any excuse.” Nurses, we salute you!

In honor of National Nurses Week (May 6-12), we asked a few to share their thoughts on the profession. Here’s what they had to say:

Q: How did you find your calling as a nurse?

“My first CPR patient was a frog! I was about 11 years old and put a frog in an air tight, vintage band aid container. After about 20 minutes I checked on him and he was not breathing. I initially panicked and then, yep…. I did CPR on the frog. It was a successful resuscitation. That was it: the defining moment I realized I wanted to be a Vet or Nurse like my aunt and grandma from Ireland.”  – Kim Fojtik-Mann, clinical coordinator, Advocate Condell Medical Center

“When my grandpa who had Parkinson’s disease was in and out of the hospital, I saw how caring the nurses were and how big of an impact they have on the patients’ lives.” – Caroline Oliveria, clinical research unit nurse, Advocate Trinity Hospital

Q: Do you have a fascinating, surprising or funny nursing school memory?

“My first semester of nursing school, I kept mixing up the terms incontinence with impotence and made everyone in my study group laugh every time I said it. It took me a while before I realized what was so funny.” – Jess Krusenoski, RN-BC, Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital

“I was fascinated how much information I could fit in my brain within such a short period of time. Each semester I pushed myself to learn more and more. After graduation, during my first day of hospital orientation, I realized this was the tip of the iceberg and that nursing would truly be a lifelong venture of learning.” – Phil Dietric, assistant clinical manager/nursing supervisor, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital

Q: How can someone become his/her nurse’s favorite patient?

“Stay off Google! All kidding aside, patients should come in with an open mind and work collaboratively with their health care providers. Be respectful.” – Wendy Rivard, pediatric nurse practitioner, Advocate Children’s Hospital

Wendy Rivard

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being a nurse?

“Nursing to me is the privilege to reach out to patients and their families on the healing journey, which can be a very rewarding. Nursing can bring joy and sorrow. As a NICU nurse for many years, I can honestly say that talking with the parents of a critically-ill baby can be a profoundly emotional experience. Many times the parents are our patients as well as their newborn baby.  We offer support and compassion to help them with the healing journey, and the outcome may not always be favorable. This is truly a testimony of what we do as nurses and why we have a passion for it.” – Dara Nuzzo, OB nurse, Advocate Trinity Hospital

“I cannot place it. The feeling of helping others and using my critical thinking skills is indescribable.” – Nicole Leone, nurse clinician, Advocate Sherman Hospital

Q: For someone who might be thinking about becoming a nurse, what would you tell them?

“It will be the most rewarding and most challenging thing you will ever do. Most of my friends who are not in health care think I just give medications and take blood pressures.  I have tried to explain that I have to be assessing everything my patients are doing at all times, even if they are just talking to me.  Patients who I have taken care of on the Oncology floor may be going through extreme chemotherapy regimens or stem cell transplants.  I have to be aware of any changes, no matter how small at all times.  I would tell anyone who is thinking about becoming a nurse if they are up to the challenge, they will not be sorry, but be prepared to work harder than they ever have.” – Jennifer Aversano, oncology nurse navigator, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital

Share your thoughts about your experience as a nurse in the comments below!