Why I Became a Nurse

Every path to the medical field is different…

but yes, I am one of those people who always knew I would go into healthcare.

When I was seven years old, my mom got pregnant with my baby sister Julia. For months my twin sister Nicole and I awaited her arrival, ready to be the best older sisters on the planet. On New Years Eve of 1996 Julia joined the family, but unexpectedly was unable to come home from the hospital. Julia was born with a heart complication known as patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), an unclosed hole in the aorta that is supposed to simultaneously close at birth. In other words, she was born with a hole in her heart. After a few weeks, Julia’s heart healed and she was finally able to come home without any further surgeries or medications. My parents said the doctors and nurses saved her life.

From that moment on, I knew I wanted to spend my life doing exactly that for other people and their families. 

baby sis Julia in the middle with a fully healthy and happy heart!

Now, Julia is on the way to becoming a nurse herself! Go Jules!

As I got older I was your typical overachiever- constantly going after the best grades and being the MVP of every sports team. I only cared about two things: becoming a doctor and playing Division I Ice Hockey. During high school I said no to any form of social life, put my nose down, and worked my butt off. My ambition and perfectionist tendencies got me recruited to the University of Connecticut (UCONN, #gohuskies) where I studied on the “pre-med” track. After college I had every plan of going to medical school, but my 3.5GPA and mediocre MCAT score were not enough to get in- crushing my dreams and sense of self worth. 

Getting denied from medical school was the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me. For the first time in my life I was faced with the pure feelings of rejection and failure. I felt like I was letting everyone down (mostly myself) and constantly thought I just wasn’t good enough. This, paired with an ending hockey career and cheating boyfriend, offered the lowest sense of self worth and shame I have ever experienced. At the age of 22 my borderline identity crisis manifested into years of distorted eating and exercise habits (I will be touching more on this on the blog later). It took a few more years of getting help, growing, but mostly un-growing to shift my perspective and step back into my worth.

Since my “Plan A” didn’t work out, I scrambled and decided to take some time off to work in a clinical research lab at The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (aka RIC, now the Shirely Ryan AbilityLab). Although I didn’t know it at the time, this was the first step that changed my perspective on myself, the world, and my career…leading me to my true authentic path.

insert inspirational quote about “no wrong turns” and finding your own path

At RIC I worked with patients from all facets of life- every race, background, socio-economic status, you name it, I saw it all. Our lab did not require patients to have insurance, so we attracted many who had no other option for therapy, or healthcare at all. In one hour, I could work with a veteran, an immigrant without documentation, and a PhD college professor. The health disparities- unequal access to quality healthcare, education, and resources I was seeing could not be more apparent. Being from Chicago’s near west side, I had a sense of what social determinants of health looked like, but now the reality was right in my face. Slowly, my curiosity and perspective shifted from the “sick” diagnosis/treatment model, to preventative measures, public health, education, and the systems and policies reinforcing these health disparities.

always in my favorite scrubs FIGS!

During my time in the lab, I also started working alongside nurses and nurse practitioners. I admired the knowledge of the physicians, but the nurses…they were at the bedside really making a difference. Nurses were on the front lines dealing with life-saving stress, but also served as the caretaker, confidant, teacher, and number one advocate. Patients and their families trusted and relied on the nurses during their most vulnerable moments. 

After two years of working at RIC and lots of self reflection, I knew the nursing path spoke much truer to my soul.  I admired nursing’s holistic approach of taking the whole person into account by meeting the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of every patient.  So, instead of reapplying to medical school I put all my eggs in the nursing basket and applied to the University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing's accelerated Master’s Program. I got in and have not questioned my path since. 

At UIC I was led by a few professors that I will idolize forever. My education was extremely progressive, and besides getting me ready for the bedside, it touched on community health, social justice issues, and social determinants of health- topics I grew a real passion for. Since graduating this program, I have spent two years working at the bedside on a neuro and telemetry (heart monitoring) unit and am now a clinical nursing instructor for bachelors nursing students. I am also in my second semester of the Doctorate of Nursing Practice program at UIC to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. 

Nursing is an incredible career path for many reasons. A steady paycheck, benefits, flexibility, job security, as well as ample opportunities for growth, continuing education, and of course helping people! However, before I keep going, let me make this very clear: nursing is not always glamorous. In fact it is usually anything but glamorous. Working as an RN is incredibly difficult. Nurses work crazy hours, holidays, often overnight, and back to back. It is physically, emotionally, and mentally taxing. Patients, families, and physicians aren’t always nice to nurses. A lot of times, nurses aren’t even nice to nurses. I still get nervous delivering report to a more experienced nurse, and have cried after a shift more times than I can count. Let’s face it, there aren’t many jobs as stressful as watching over the lives of other human beings.

I mean, who doesn’t like working on Christmas?

But, that’s exactly why nursing is so much more than a job. Nursing is a way of life, and being a nurse is like forever being part of a tribe. Unlike other paths in healthcare, nursing is equally an art and a science. It gives you a deep understanding of the body and disease, but more importantly the human condition. There are few career choices as selfless, honorable, and rewarding as becoming a nurse. I will always be grateful for a set of skills that can truly help others, and the endless opportunities to affect individuals, communities and the world.

What I do know for sure is- nursing has allowed me to heal my patients, but it has also given me the space to heal myself. My path to nursing was not a straight line, but let's be real, who’s journey is?

If you are thinking about pursing a career in nursing, you can relate to my story, or if you are also a nurse please reach out with any questions, thoughts, or ideas. Feel free to drop me a line in the comments or find me on social media, I’d love to hear from you!

XOXO,

Jac