Simply His

First Year as an R.N. 

The Triumphs and Defeats 

Jessica Sunday 

September 5, 2019, was the anniversary of my first full year working as a Registered Nurse on a cardiac unit. It is hard to believe that a year has come and gone in my first nursing job. I have grown so much during this year. I have been stretched in ways I never thought possible. I did not make it this far in my own strength, but God's strength and wisdom. The ironic thing is, God places us in situations sometimes that we tell Him that we do not want to do or maybe we just do not have faith in what He can do through us. 

Many years ago I thought God wanted me to be an elementary school teacher so I vowed never to pursue healthcare, but God flipped the script of what I thought He wanted me to do two months before graduating high school. Then, when I was in nursing school covering the cardiac section of the semester, I said the last nurse I would be was a cardiac nurse. That seems like it is way too much or way too hard for me to do. 

Fast forward a little bit. That was the first and only nursing job that I had in my first year of nursing, and I was right back then. It is hard, but it is not impossible to learn how to be an avid cardiac nurse. 

Looking back from where I have come this past year, makes me eager to see what plans God has for me in the future of nursing. I have grown so much in my clinical skills as a nurse that I am more confident each day I go to work. The confidence I feel is not an arrogant confidence but rather a confidence in knowing what I am doing to help my patients. No nurse will know exactly everything, but those who want to see you grow, learn, and succeed will always be a source of guidance. 

With great triumphs, come defeats in this profession. There was a period this year that I felt extremely burnt out as a new nurse. Feeling burnt out is hard and not good for your health. It wears one down. Burn out comes and goes. Perhaps you have dealt with burnout in your profession. When I felt like I could not tolerate feeling like that, I took a weekend trip that seemed to help. I think it is important to get away if one is feeling burnt out wherever they are. 

Loss is hard as a nurse which I think can definitely attribute to nurse burn out as well as under appreciation does. What people often do not realize is all the behind the scene work nurses actually do. Caregiver role strain is a cause which usually means a family member takes care of their loved one who may be in the hospital, but I believe healthcare professionals can experience this role strain as we care for people day in and day out. 

As hard as nursing truly is, I would not want to do anything else as a career. It can be extremely rewarding. Nurses see things that we wish nobody will ever see, but we also see things that make our whole shift worthwhile, and we try not to take those things for granted. I believe God may stretch me in different ways in this career as He already has in having me start out in telemetry. I cannot wait to see where He takes me in nursing. 

Here's to another year of nursing, and the lives I get to touch and the lives that touch mine!