Change is inevitable

This is my last week as a PICU nurse/manager, I have recently accepted a new position at Mercy.  I am having all sorts of emotions.  While I am excited for change, I'm also fearful and sad to leave what has been a big part of my identity for the last 15 years, a pediatric bedside nurse.  Something I love deeply and am very passionate about.

I will miss the people I worked with, the patients and their families.  Over the years patients have shown me amazing strength and resiliency.  Their families have also shown me strength but more importantly a powerful love, the things I have seen parents do for the love of their child is phenomenal.   I have seen more miracles than I can count and heartbreak. The miracles kept me going but I cannot deny the repeated exposure to heartbreak makes it hard.  The heartbreak is one reason I embrace this change.

Us pediatric nurses invest a lot emotional and physical energy into our patients and their families, they become our family.  One mother told me a few years ago, after being discharged home after several months in the PICU, she felt lonely when she got home. While it was a celebration to finally be able to take her child home, she thought of us as family and missed us.

This is a bitter sweet feeling for me, being a pediatric bedside nurse has shaped me into being a better person and I am grateful for the experience.  I will take that experience, love and passion, and get our story out there.  One of the many things I am looking forward to is I am trading in my scrubs for amazing outfits.

Photo Credit: Sparrow and Bean Studios