Читать книгу Maximize Your College Experience : Get the Most Out of Your College Experience for Success Now and In the Future - Timothy Skjellerup - Страница 9

Let’s take my girlfriend, Alicia, for example. She is one of the best nurses in the country. She has a broad array of experience and expertise. She is amazing with patients, and the doctors love having her on their team. Prior to taking a position as a clinical educator training other nurses, she worked at one of the best pediatric trauma centers in the United States and thrived. She is living her passion to help others, and she is continuing to master her craft.

When Alicia went to college and declared her major as nursing, she excitedly called her mother to tell her about the decision. Her mother was a little apprehensive, and over the next four years she sent her random articles about how nurses were overworked and underpaid. She would ask her daughter subtle questions, like, “Are you sure you’re not too emotional or sensitive to do that kind of work? Won’t you get too attached to your patients and be devastated when they get sick or don’t survive?” Or sometimes she’d come right out and ask her about going into education to be a teacher like she had always talked about when she was growing up, or ask her point blank if she “was sure” about her career choice. Was this loving mother afraid that her daughter was going to outdo her? Was she maliciously trying to keep her daughter from following her passion?

Of course not… She was merely trying to protect her daughter the best way she knew how.

You see, Alicia’s mother was not a nurse, but she had heard that nurses worked long hours and often had to work overnights. She heard that nurses had a high burnout rate and that the job was highly stressful. She heard that nurses saw some horrific sights and dealt with some terrible diseases. She also heard that nurses sometimes made mistakes and got sued. So, as a result of all this, she would send her daughter articles about all of the negative parts of a nursing career and would randomly drop her hints to consider changing her major.

Luckily for Alicia and thousands of patients and their families across the United States, she decided to ignore her mother’s warning and continue following her passion. Although many of Alicia’s mother’s fears and concerns were real, and Alicia will tell you that working in a pediatric trauma center as a nurse can be extremely difficult, the rewards far exceed the risks. And her mother also realized this to be the case and still tells her to this day how very proud she is of all she has accomplished in her career.