Colleen, Traditional Class of 2006

Originally Posted: May 24th, 2006 at 10:05 am

Today I helped a 24 year old woman hand express her *** milk so she could freeze it and bring it to her 3 day old premature baby in the hospital.

It was the single most empowering and moving thing I have done since I started nursing school.

When I came here, nearly a year ago, I had no idea I’d be where I am right now. To be in a woman’s home, to have her trust, to have her *** in my hand and to be contributing in such a huge way to the health of her child; that is beautiful.

Nurses have consistently been rated in the Gallup poll as the number one trusted profession (except for in 2001 when firefighters took the number one spot). Despite that, during my first few clinicals I stumbled over questions with patients about their family histories or their sexual practices or their current disease condition. I was awkward. I didn’t want to pry. But today, it was seamless. I was with her, in her room, and she was naked and I was helping her and it all felt right, like this job was meant for me.

I am entirely satisfied with my decision to become a nurse. It has settled on me quite nicely.