My beginnings as a Nurse

Hi, I am so excited to meet you!  My name is Jaymey and I am a Nurse Practitioner in the gorgeous state of Oregon.  I have been on this journey as a Nurse since 1995 and NP since 2008.  My work is both exhilarating and exhausting – sometimes at the exact same time.  How is that possible? I continually ask myself that same question.  So here, on this blog, I am going to explore what it is we do in healthcare, what draws us (me) to this type of career, what makes it “high-5 / fist-bump” worthy on some days and “tail between your legs / did I do enough” on others.  I certainly don’t have the answers but I am ready to start on this new journey of exploration.

Why do people choose healthcare as a profession? Gosh, there are so many answers to this question, each as individual as the person you ask. For me, it started with practicality – job security and making sure I could always support myself and family along with what has always felt like a short attention span and need to change up what I am doing to stay interested.  Often, I find that my initial reasons are not nearly as altruistic as those of my peers.   The most frequent drive for going into medicine of any kind is “To help others”.   What can I say, my reasons were enough to get me started and the caring for and helping others ended up being the huge bonus that I discovered along the way.

I was a lackluster student in college when studying for a major in Communications.  (Hmmmm, because I love to talk is probably not the best way to pick a major.)  After a few years of struggling in school and discovering who I was away from the very small town I grew up in, I met my husband, Tom, and came to the “OMG, what were you thinking” realization that Communications was not my dream but Nursing might be.  Tom has supported my crazy notion enough to sign up for Anatomy & Physiology and Chemistry 101 with me – not because he had ANY interest in these subjects at all, but because he loved me and wanted me to succeed.  Who could not fall in love with that guy?!

What a relief that upon taking my first serious science classes towards a Bachelors of Science in Nursing – I took to this like a duck to water (boring analogy, but very apt all the same).  I’m not sure who was more excited about me settling in and finding my place – Tom or me.  He was relieved because he didn’t have to take anymore of those heavy science classes to support his flighty girlfriend and me because it felt RIGHT, just RIGHT!  This ignited an interest in learning that I hadn’t felt before and I adored!

So how does falling in love with your path change things???  Well, I did NOT miraculously become a straight A student – but I do remember very distinctly calling my Mom one Sunday afternoon in tears.  She was worried and asked what was wrong – I said “Nothing! I just opened my mail from the school and found out I made the Dean’s List. I had no idea I could do that!”  To which she replied – “Oh honey, that is GREAT! … But why are you opening your mail on Sunday?” Well, what can I say – I was expecting a BILL – not that I had made the Dean’s List.  This change in my grades simply reflected my interest in my subject matter and the outcome of these classes – my ability to become a Nurse someday.

I found some fabulous classmates who helped form a study group that saw us through the next 4 vigorous years of our nursing school.  Without those wonderful women, their love, support and faith, my schooling would have been daunting.  So much to learn and so much riding on it!  While I admit that Nursing Theory has always been a bit of a challenge to my enthusiasm, even THAT could not make me change course.  I found what I was meant to do!  With every class and every clinical rotation I was pulled deeper and deeper into love with the career I was on a path to create.

I am very fortunate to have an amazing step-sister who is a retired kick-a$$ Nurse Practitioner.  She was in one of the first PA (physician assistant)/NP (nurse practitioner) cohorts through UC Davis which created a unique perspective on the difference and similarities between these 2 career paths.    I had the privilege to shadow my sister for a week during my nursing school days while she was working as a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, and I knew – absolutely KNEW – that NP was what I was meant to do!  She is a beautiful role model and I wish that each and everyone of us find that person that both motivates and inspires you.  (I’m hoping someday that she will agree to do a guest post on carrying both the NP and PA license and how each served her differently at times throughout her interesting career.)

Well, I made it through the 4 year degree program and received by Bachelors of Science in Nursing.  At the time it was recommended to have a minimum of 2 years of clinical experience prior to applying to a Nurse Practitioner Program.  (There have been and will continue to be a LOT of debate about this recommendation – and that, I’m sure, will be addressed in a different post.)  Having a “plan” I decided to get the much needed experience and enter true adulthood by getting a J-O-B and starting to payback my student loans – oh the AGONY of debt but the JOY of a new career.  As luck would have it – I graduated amidst one of the few Nursing job shortages of the 20th century.  This is the career that ensured job security and no one knew if they’d have a job after graduation…what?!  As often happens when the future is not certain one becomes creative.  Hence, my journey to become a nurse practitioner became much more circuitous than I would have wished for – but it turned out to be oh so perfect in the end.

Thanks for joining me as I think back about the beginnings of my career and start to tackle some of the issues that affected by travels along the way. I hope to see you again!

Cheers – Jaymey