My Passion For Nursing

“Passion – a strong and barely controllable emotion.” As I read this definition, there is only one subject that comes to mind. Nursing. My passion for nursing began long before entering Los Angeles Harbor College. The spark to this fire began with my father. My father has been battling the complications of diabetes since I was born, from: eye surgery, kidney failure, and toe amputation. While being countless times at the hospital, I have observed how nurses play a vital role in patient care. These nurses inspired me to learn the art of healing. My desire for nursing directed me to volunteer in the ER at Presbyterian Hospital, in Whittier. I loved the adrenaline-charged, fast-paced environment. I was always ready to help in the ways that doctors and nurses needed, but my main goal became showing the patients that

One incident comes to mind. While I was taking a blood pressure, with a patient who has a history of hypertension, the reading was 180 /90 and I was worried of how elevated it was. I took it again and was still near the original reading. I notified the RN to let him know it was elevated. He first believed it was pain the patient was having that caused the elevated BP and told me to recheck it in an hour after he administered the pain medication. I recheck twice after the hour had passed and both readings were elevated. I let the RN know and he rechecked it. It was still elevated. He checked it with a different BP monitor and the reading was normal. Therefore, we both learned that the monitor was defective. As a result of this situation, I thought how this could have potentially harmed the patient because an antihypertensive medication could have been administered when the actual BP was normal. This experience has made me aware to always check medical equipment before using it on