President's Message
I can hardly believe that my eldest son, Edward, will be graduating from high
school and soon
will be leaving home. He will be attending the University of Southern
California, School of
Architecture next fall.
Ages ago, I too was a high school graduate but was clueless what to pursue in college. College counseling was non-existent at that time and none of the other popular courses sparked my interest. Why did I take up nursing? Actually, it was my mother who encouraged me to become a nurse. “You can go to the States,” she said, but then I was not interested in going overseas... but I became a nurse anyway. For years, I was content within the comfort zone of my Quezon City home and the PGH dormitory until my close friends started to leave for abroad. It was then that I joined the exodus of nurses to Kansas City. Uprooting and settling into a new country was a great challenge but meeting new friends, and establishing new relationships was also exciting. Since I worked as PRN for 9 years, I had the opportunity to work in different nursing departments, except radiology and operating room. After many years of hard work, perseverance and exposure to various nursing specialty units, I finally found the best niche for my interest. Emergency room nursing where variety of patients is the “spice of life," where my assessment skills (and patience) are continually challenged in triaging patients and where I can initiate clinical interventions before a physician can even see the patient (blood draws, EKG, X-rays, etc.). The varied cases we see in the emergency room keep my interest and learning drive in high gear. Today, I am glad I listened to my mother, and be a part of a caring and a dynamic profession. As the nation observes Nurses Day on May 6, let us celebrate it with pride and enthusiasm. We have come a long way from the time Florence Nightingale founded modern professional nursing in the 1850s. Opportunities for change and professional advancement abound and we have nursing organizations established to serve as the powerful voice of professional nurses. We, the nurses, are the vanguard of the health care delivery system! Do you know that Dr. Beverley Malone, the current President of American Nurses Association is appointed to President Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry and its Quality sub-committee? Our role in the health care development of this nation is vital , we are valuable ! So let us celebrate Nurses Day with renewed dedication, self-reliance, and leadership!
|
|
[previous article]
[next article]
|
© Copyright 1998, Philippine Nurses Association of Greater Kansas City |
|
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page
|