Forty Years....

...ago I graduated from nursing school. From an early age on, all I wanted to be was a nurse. Now this isn't surprising considering I'm the only child of a dysfunctional family and most nurses are... but there was a sense of romance to that white cap and starched white uniform... and sense of service that I didn't understand at the time. Medical stuff fascinated me. I read everything I could from the World Book Encyclopedia, Cherry Ames books, and the Red Cross First Aid and Home Nursing Manuals.

My parents told me they would pay for four years of college. Get it done was the message. And I did. It was Father's Day, 1971, at some unremembered church in Madison WI, where I received my pin and diploma. I said to my dad, "Happy Father's Day, No More Tuition...." (it was Father's Day...). It was one of the few times I remember his saying "I'm proud of you."

One nursing school experience stands out as I look at my 40 yr old diploma (which I dug out of storage)..... Alice S was the director of the school, an elderly nurse who put her white starch above her practice. She was all about appearances and rules and not necessarily about nursing practice. She was very old school. At one point we had a disagreement about my prior completion of a nursing history class before I entered her program. She maintained that I had to take HER course, I countered that I had already completed that curriculum and should not have to repeat it. I presented the syllabus from my university class which almost matched hers, and my copy of my transcript showing an "A" in the class. She was so affronted that she told me I'd (a) never finish HER program (b) never be a good nurse, (c) never pass my boards and/or (d)wash out in my first year. I did not have to take her class in the end, she acquiesced when I told her I'd let the faculty chair decide. I think I took her insults as a challenge and finished the program with great grades and passed my boards on the first try.

Forty years later, that fire is still there. Not only did I finish the program, continue a career, but added a bachelor's and master's degrees (as a nurse practitioner) in nursing on top of it. So there. I'm a good nurse, I still like being a nurse. Those letters, RN, after my name still mean something to me. I celebrate my profession (even though I haven't worn whites or a cap in a long long time).... I'm still here, 40 years of continuous licensing and practice. The journey continues.....