Health Is Our Most Precious Gift In Life
Investing in ourselves: Reflections On Being A Nurse For 30 Years
Health is a truly precious gift in life. It is something we do not notice much until something happens and now all of a sudden we miss our health.
Health seems so simple, isn’t it? Just be healthy and nothing else matters. Yet, many of us struggle with the concept of health. It can be easy to forget where we come from, as society has changed so much and removed us from nature. I believe that staying connected to nature and spending time in nature has amazing healing elements for humanity. I am jumping ahead.
Let’s start at the beginning and jump back 50 years in time when I was born:
It was January, the new year had just begun and my mother started to show signs of labor way early. My birth date was supposed to be the middle of March and yet, here we are just a few days past the new year and I am coming. Feet first of course which is not the best option…
I was not breathing when I was born and had health issues into my teen years perhaps as complications from being a premature infant. Against all odds I made it. I visited hospitals frequently as a child, as a youth, and as an adult, and I have had multiple surgeries in my life. At some point, I just stopped counting or listing them….
I have encountered many nurses and doctors in my life from the moment I was born. My mother and father gave me life and nurses and doctors saved my life, many times and I am forever grateful for them.
Now 50 years forward….
As a nurse, I have seen year after year the devastating effects people have once their health is gone. I have worked in many different healthcare settings including long-term care, Medicare recovery units, community care, home care, Medicaid/Medicare, and hospital settings in cardiology, urology, transplant, addiction, and the clinic setting. In addition, I taught nurses, including LPNs, RNs, and nursing assistants in community college settings.
In all of the settings listed above, I observed people losing their health and feeling devastated. Things that seemed easy before all of a sudden are simply impossible to do when one is looking at cancer treatment or heart failure. No matter what the disease or an injury brings it changes the way people have been able to live, work, and play before into a new reality. In addition, when a person gets hurt it is not just them their injury or illness can affect their family, friends, community, and workplace. Many times I had more conversations with the family than the patient.
Sometimes this new reality just lasts 6 months or a year for a full recovery from an injured body part for example, at other times the injury can create a devastating effect that the person might never walk again and be tied to a wheelchair for the rest of their lives. One will never truly know what the next moment brings into our lives.
It is essential to think of our health and set time aside for ourselves and for our well-being.
It can be so easy to say: I will eat healthy tomorrow, I will take that walk tomorrow, I will look into that herbal tea tomorrow, or whatever the plan is that we tell ourselves to delay care for ourselves and others. Many times work, family, shopping, vacation, or going to a party might seem more important than researching and doing something for our health and well-being.
I am not here to tell anyone how to live their lives, simply share observations on what I have seen as a nurse for the past 30 years. I am as guilty as anyone else in delaying my own health needs being busy helping others all the time.
I have seen many good examples in my life as a nurse as well. I have talked to many people who turned their lives around and changed the way they used to live. The examples I have mostly seen were related to the changes that come from the addiction field and the field of cardiology.
People do take it to heart when we talk about their hearts. We only have one of these amazing and major organs and we need the heart to keep us going. The heart is a truly magical machine where each cell beats on its own as well as whole heart beats as well like a well-oiled machine that keeps on going every second, every minute in our life as long as we live and sometimes beyond our lives as well when we look at transplant surgeries.
I have seen people with lifelong addictions like smoking decide it is time now to stop to protect their lungs or their heart. On the other hand, I also had seen people struggling to stop even after getting a bad diagnosis about their heart, lung, or cancer. Habits that we have learned can be very difficult to change. It is always important for me as a nurse not to judge anyone for their lifestyle habits as many times people have very tough lives that led them where they are.
I learned to be there for people and meet them where they are at the given time when I have a chance to talk to them and support them the best I can throughout their health and wellness journey.
I do believe that every individual and community is different and treatment and interventions can be altered to support the person or the community in a way that is beneficial to them. As an example, we can try to tell a person to eat more vegetables and if they can not afford them and can not get to them this intervention will not work. Alternative options are needed to help and support this person.
I learned to think outside of the box and be creative. In addition, many times all I can do is harm reduction. That is fine. I need to be there and I am still grateful that the person is seeking help. Next time they might be willing to do more which happens quite often as people realize they do have more to give to this world and there are people around them who care what happens to them. Any engagement and support is better than no engagement at all. We all have to start somewhere.
My favorite times are when people come back the next session, next year, or many years later to say: thank you this helped when you said this. And I would say I am grateful that it helped and I would have no idea or memory of what I did that helped and it does not matter, all that matters is that it helped and that person is better off for it.
We never know when our actions can make a great difference in our lives which is why as a nurse I took an oath to help others, treat others the way I would like to be treated, and do no harm.
Nursing can be a very beautiful and also a very tiring and overwhelming profession. Many times I would have to get up very early, not get home until late might not even see my children before going to bed as they would be asleep already. This would be a regret I have not being able to spend enough time with my own family as I am out helping others to save their families. It is a great dilemma. On the other hand, my work paid for things my children needed. There is a give and take in everything in this life. I made my choices and did the best I could.
I am still here and standing as a nurse who lived through and worked through every day during the COVID-19 pandemic which was a very stressful time not knowing from day to day what was happening next and still showing up and doing the best we could to support our community and teh people around us. I have learned about what a pandemic is in my school and history books and I never thought that I would live through one.
I feel very fortunate that I made it and sad for all those who did not. It makes me wonder why am I still here. I assume I still have things to do for myself, my family, and others. the pandemic did break my mental health and I had to take a little time off and therapy for myself. I am glad I did. I was not sure if I could be still the nurse I wanted to be and took many great initiatives to heal myself.
One thing I started to do more is painting and writing more. I enjoy doing any type of creative work and love writing. I think it is wonderful when we find outlets that support our health and well-being.
I hope that my story brought a little insight into what a nurse’s life work can be.
Thank you for reading and being here,
Gabriella
A version of this story originally was published on medium.com
Most humans don't think of their health until death threatens their lives.
My mother smoked and two of my sisters picked up her dangerous habit.