My Career As A Paramedic

As a young child, I was always drawn towards the field of health care. I remember reading about the many options that are held within it and wondering what path it would lead me on. Neonatal nursing was something that always came into my mind, but it was often pushed to the side by people and teachers who thought I should become a pediatrician instead. This became a real struggle for me, but as I grew up and began researching and exploring the health care field I came to a decision for myself. I came to the realization that everyone was wrong. I didn’t want to be a doctor at all. This sudden burst of independence from what everyone else wanted was the first step to reaching my end goal. Along with this, an accelerated education, volunteer

Soon after, I received my licensure and began working at The Queen's Medical Center as a Registered Nurse (RN) in early part of 1994. Since becoming a RN, I have provided care to a great deal of patients and reassured countless numbers of family members. As a RN, I've also become the coordinator of care, patient advocate, and teacher to the patients I cared for while serving as the eyes and the ears of the physicians. As with any human, I enjoyed sharing the laughter with my patient and cringed at site of their pain and despair. For these reasons, I believe that being a RN is a great career choice for me. However, for these same reasons, I still feel that I am not a complete nurse; hence I've decided to go back to school and try to earn my Bachelor in Science Degree in Nursing

Van Gogh once said “your profession is what you’re put here on earth to do, with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling”. That is what nursing is to me. A passion that started early in life. During my senior year in high school, I completed the nursing assistant course over a holiday break in order to begin working as a certified nursing assistant at a local hospital and nursing home. I continued serving others, in this capacity, while I pursued higher education earning my Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Clarkson College. After graduation, I began my career as a Registered Nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital. Over the last nine years at Sacred Heart, my experience grew as a staff nurse on a Cardiology Step-down Unit,

Planning my career and setting up goals beyond being a bedside nurse was not an easy step. It was finalized/ concreted by the influence and support of friends and my family

I've very adaptive to new technology such as programs used for online documentation and electronic MARS. Other registered staff in my unit often comes to me for problem solving and troubleshooting with our online documentation program. I always put my patients first and I take the time to listen to my patients & families, no matter how busy my schedule may be. I work well under pressure and in a solo or team environment. I strive to become more knowledgeable in nursing in order to provide the best care I can to my clients In order to excel at my profession and passion I need to do everything I can to make myself better. As part of that, I did not stop with Bachelors, I did my masters, then I did Medical-surgical certification & I am also certified preceptor, have certification from UCF. My upbringing developed my core beliefs of community, family, loyalty, compassion and honesty. It also taught me that all things worthwhile require hard work. I love being a nurse, but recognize my yearning for more. I love nursing and have enjoyed my time as a floor nurse although my work experiences are acutely based, I have observed the direct relation between primary and acute care. As a nurse primarily working with patients, I have observed how patient miseducation, miscommunication, and

This encouraged me to pursue my current job, a patient care technician in the emergency department. When I landed my job in the emergency department I was not too sure what to expect since I always worked in the field as an EMT and a firefighter. Well, turns out I loved it so much that I want to now move on to pursue a career in nursing. I did not realize the love I have for continuing my patient care which is what I like the most about working in the emergency department. Unlike when you work on an ambulance you only care for the patient for a short time and then have to leave what you had started. Working as an EMT in the hospital setting has given me the experience that I will need in order to pursue my goal now to complete nursing

Since I have been a young girl, I have dreamed of dedicating my life to aid others in health and wellness. Nursing, however has not always been my leading career choice. Career options such as a pediatrician, oncologist, anesthesiologist, etc. have been considered in my pursuit of finding the proper career path, but through all the consideration I have never lost my true passion of helping others. Through careful examination of these various careers, I discovered that I wanted to pursue a career that was more personal and hands-on. I have chosen to pursue a career as a pediatric oncology nurse. Although this career with be both physically and emotionally demanding, I feel that I have made the best choice to become a nurse and devote my life in the pursuit of restoring health and wellness in children battling detrimental diseases.

Being an Emergency Room nurse for 7 years and working as a traveling nurse in many different parts of the country has impacted my future and decision of going back to school. My personal career goal is to become a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) with specialization in pediatric critical care area, mainly pediatric emergency medicine. I have known since a very young age that I had a gift for working with children. My colleagues always call me the “pediatric nurse”. I feel it takes a very special type of person to work with pediatrics, and this is where my heart is. I chose to become a FNP to broaden my area of expertise and to leave multiple doors open to work in different areas. I have

My life is a bit of a rollercoaster. I knew what I wanted to do since a young age; however, different paths and decisions brought me to my goal in a roundabout way. After high school I decided to take time off before going to college because I was fortunate enough to have a successful career in retail management. Around the nine year mark I decided that I wanted to return to my goal of entering the medical field, which I was already in the process of doing by attending Northeastern and working towards my BS in Biological Sciences. My ultimate goal being to achieve an MS as a physician assistant. When moving into health care I started in the Urgent Care Department which was closely related to one of the fields I am interested in when practicing

My career commitment as a nurse has grown tremendously over the past three years; through my daily experiences as a Medical Assistant. I have devoted my time as a full time student and employee of the health care profession. Both of these occupations have helped shape me into the person I want to be for as long as time allows. Daily I witness these community role models that posses abilities such as problem solving skills, promotion and protection of an individual’s advocacy all tied in with compassion to meet the health care needs of an individual.

My personal nursing mission statement is changing and developing as my career advances, however, one core piece will remain constant. I will strive to provide the best, safest, most ethical and compassionate nursing care that I can for all patients and family members with whom I come in contact. I began my post-high school academic career as an accounting major. I enjoyed the challenge of manipulating a report until I had balanced. I thought I had found my calling. As my first semester was nearing an end, I found myself contemplating the thought of sitting behind a desk all day. I wondered

I’ve worked for DaVita dialysis for two years; before changing careers I worked in early childhood education for 8 years. I decided to make a career change because I didn’t feel in my heart that I was being challenging myself enough to my full potential. I’ve always enjoyed the opportunity to help others. My mother has been an LPN for over 36 years, so I spent countless hours at her job at a hospital when I was growing up. I would spend time in the office of the her director of nurse and I would ask questions for days. I’ve always had a passion for healthcare, but, I was afraid of blood so decided that nursing was out the question for me. So I chose the business side of healthcare to focus on. I want to advance my career in healthcare.

The experience I gained at the cardiology clinic and the hours shadowing at the Methodist Hospital emergency room are a pillar for the career of my choice. I want to be able to help those in need in my local community hospital. I feel the urge to give a hand to those that have guided me through the right path, from teaching me right from wrong to encouraging me to strive to be the best in life. At the Methodist hospital, I learned how to obtain patient’s medical history and entered data into Cerner, and I obtained consent from patients before procedures such as diagnostic imaging and casting. I observed physical examinations being performed by the physician assistant and it taught me that it is necessary to have knowledge to be able to diagnose and treat conditions and that interpersonal skills are essential for this career. Currently, I work for the department of health where I triage and register patients, assist physicians and nurse practitioner in the examination of patients, and assist with maintenance of inventory supplies and

Because of these changes, my interests in nursing have been influenced by circumstance. From the very beginning of my journey, I had a strong interest in becoming a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), but because of the need to relocate for my husband’s job, becoming a CRNA was no longer an option due to location. After reevaluating my options, I have established a new interest in becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner, but because of my academic marathon and because of my age, I have also considered foregoing the additional education past a BSN. Other areas of interest include the Emergency Room, Cardiology, Critical Care, and Neurology. All of my career options interest me because they provide challenge and constant change. Hopefully the remainder of my academic journey will help solidify my ultimate career goal in the nursing profession.

High school was over, a college in Lubbock, Texas was chosen, and this young adult was going to attend paramedic school. At the end of the first semester, personal and family issues surfaced, and it was back to the little small town of Willis. Still wanting to pursue the paramedic field, Reed realized that this wasn’t the right time to do so, and began seeking employment to help with family needs. This hardworking driven individual worked two to three jobs at a time over the next nine years to help support family. In all this time, the dream of becoming a paramedic was never lost. It wasn’t until June 2011 that the door to pursue this field was reopened.