By way of introduction

In a few months I will celebrate five years since I went into emergency nursing. I was fresh out of school, full of ambition and passion for the profession. I didn't listen to my classmates and teachers when they told me that I needed experience elsewhere before going to work in an ER. I knew that I wanted to be an emergency nurse and I followed my dream, so to speak. Five years have gone by and even on the worst of the shifts I do not wish I chose to work on any other unit. I love how unpredictable and fast-paced my job is. I enjoy the challenges and feel amazing solving problems that at first seem too overwhelming to wrap my head around. I live for an occasional adrenaline rush of a "true" emergency. I'm friends with my colleagues because we have so much in common. And it makes me feel amazing when I know that I have made a difference.

All these wonderful big words aside, I'm not going to lie - I sometimes hate my job. There are days when I just can't help feeling burnt out and disenchanted with the whole nursing profession. These are the days when I literally limp home at night: tired, bloated, under-slept, yelled- and sworn-at at work by drunk smelly people. Or treated like a waitress or a personal assistant by VIP patients and their family members. Or talked down to and disrespected by MDs. Or having gone above and beyond for my patients only for the physician to receive a thank you card and a $100 bottle of vintage wine in the end. There are so many things that can bring you down and make you seriously consider if the choice you made all those years ago was the right one... And yet I keep setting my alarm for 5 AM and showing up at 7 to get report. My back and my feet are starting to really hate me, but I do. 

These are my stories - the good and the bad and most of them something in between. And just to cover my ass, all the names and ages and identifying characteristics will be changed to protect patients' confidentiality. Maybe some of the stories never even happened. And maybe I'm not even a nurse. Who knows?