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E-mail Interview It’s 4 a.m. – her alarm clock goes off. For most people, this is a dreaded time, but not for Rachel Tom. This sound means it’s time to get up and go do what she loves most – helping others. For as long as she can remember, Rachel has always had a strong desire to help people. Anytime she saw someone hurt or ill, she had a natural instinct to take care of them. There was no doubt in her mind what she wanted to be when she grew up – a nurse. That’s exactly the career she pursued. Rachel has been a nurse for ten and a half years working at St. John Medical Center for all of her nursing career, and not a day goes by that she regrets choosing this career – even on a bad day.
As soon as Rachel graduated nursing school from Langston University, Tulsa Campus, in 2007, she began her new career at St. John Medical Center. “I have worked here all of my nursing career” (Tom, 2018). Rachel spent seven out of her ten and a half years working in the newborn nursery. “I loved taking care of the newborns, but the hours were hard on my family” (Tom, 2018). She also worked in the ICU step-down unit for a year and a half and is currently working at the St. John Broken Arrow preop center where she has been for the last two years. Her current position at the St. John Broken Arrow preop center has provided her with the flexible schedule that she has been searching for to be home with her children in the evenings and on the weekends.
Although her day starts at 4 a.m., Rachel loves her current job at the preop center in Broken Arrow. Some of her daily duties include checking patients in and out, starting I.V.’s, drawing labs, charting, and prepping patient’s operative sites. She also works with the anesthesiologist providing information she collected from the patient and ensuring that they are properly prepped for surgery. “I go from patient to patient completing a preop checklist” (Tom, 2018). Rachel loves nursing because not only does she get to help people, the nursing field is so versatile. Working in the preop center, Rachel preps patients for different kinds of surgeries, each patient being different than the last, and she doesn’t ever feel burnt out from doing the same tasks over and over again.
Rachel has not been surprised by anything in regards to what the nursing field entails. “My occupation is what I expected” (Tom, 2018). She knew there would be good days and bad days, different personalities, as well as stressful situations. Rachel entered the nursing field knowing this in advance and was ready for whatever issues she had to face. Rachel has a great personality and handles stressful situations well. She always appears happy, positive, and is always smiling. “I have always gotten along with my managers and coworkers” (Tom, 2018). She also feels that the salary and benefits are to be expected and has no complaints regarding her pay. She never really thought about the pay anyway. She just knew she wanted to help others and realized nursing was the way to do it.
Nursing not only gives Rachel an opportunity to help others, it also allows her the opportunity to give back to the community. She does not belong to any professional organizations, but she does volunteer at “various health fairs, public outreach community activities, back-to-school booths, and health related walks” (Tom, 2018). Rachel enjoys participating in these public outreach activities as it is just another way of helping people. Every year, she volunteers at the Tulsa State Fair helping out with free health checks. She also helps out with the local school district conducting health screenings for elementary students.
Being a nurse does not come without challenges, as Rachel well knows. She has had some obstacles to overcome during her career – specifically juggling her family life with her career. “I have small children so I have always struggled with which shift is best to work for my family” (Tom, 2018). She finds her latest position to work well with her family life, however, as it allows her to be home in the evenings and on the weekends.
When presented with challenges, Rachel has some advice for future nurses: “Take it one day at a time, speak up when you have questions, and don’t forget that nursing is a lifelong learning process” (Tom, 2018). Rachel has learned that in her journey through nursing school and as a nurse, knowing how to take control of situations is vital, especially when people’s lives depend on it.
Rachel also feels that her college prerequisite courses has helped her be a successful nurse as well. The prerequisite courses teach critical thinking which is vital in the nursing field. Some of the classes helped Rachel manage stress and taught her how to deal with patients with psychological issues. “Clinical days are great to help prepare you” (Tom, 2018). Clinicals provide hands-on training. Hands-on training together with the required prerequisite courses is a must for any nursing student to be able to successfully pass the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination).
In summary, Rachel finds her career
as a nurse to be quite rewarding. She looks forward to each day of being able
to help people. It has been hard at times trying to juggle family life with work,
but she has been successful in finding a work schedule that fits her family
life best. The fact that she gets to help people each day is what brings her
back. At this time, she has no plans of pursuing a degree beyond her Bachelors
degree. She absolutely loves being a nurse and has plans on retiring from the
nursing field.
