Michele Cherry

I would just say I've been blessed to have colleagues around me that made us a good team. I've also wanted to be a nurse since I was a little kid - I was 9 and in the hospital getting my adenoids out, and there was this nurse who tried to shove jello down my throat, and I hated jello. That experience, even though it was negative, sparked something in me. I think that change is always moving forward, and being innovative and receptive to new things is kind of how you can gain skills, look at other perspectives, and essentially build your success and your career when you keep an open mind. Working in neurosurgery for 15 years with those sick, sick patients and having a staff that was really great gave me the foundation that's carried me through my career. My preceptor at that job was such a good nurse and so spot on that it helped me build my instinct, and I think that building your instinct is what makes or breaks a good nurse from a more skillful nurse.

Always trust your gut. You might not know what's wrong, but if you can pick up that something isn't right and take it to the higher level of care, then you've done your job. Usually a lot of times you can prevent something worse that could be happening with that patient or even a student at school. I've had kids that have had really vague symptoms - I can particularly think of one who just kept saying that his chest hurt. His heart rate sounded good, his lungs sounded good, his oxygen level was good, but I picked up that he was having issues with his hydration, and his body was so sensitive to it that it caused chest pain. It's something you don't even think of - you hear chest pain and right away people go to heart attack, but it can be so many other things.

I tell my daughters all the time, always trust your gut. Make sure you protect your license, because assuming something is not going to stand up in court for you. I think with the way society is today, there are people out here that are looking to sue you for a small mistake that you could have made unintentionally. Your charting and trusting your gut, and leaning on nurses with better season and experience helps. I think it's a plethora of things that you need to do to protect your license, because if your license is taken from you, then everything - that's your whole life. If you don't want to stay at the bedside, you have a million different directions to go with this career. Don't feel like you have to box yourself into anything. You can do informatics, case management, go into many subspecialties. You can make what you want out of your career if you're willing to explore different options.

In my school nurse job, the biggest challenge is I'm the only medical person on site, and I have had multiple emergencies with complete anaphylaxis. Everyone just doesn't help you - it's not their fault, I mean, they're not medical and they don't know what to do - but it is like, especially when I take care of students, I'm like, this is somebody's baby. Somebody's baby that I have to make sure that they're safe every single day when I'm in this building. In the hospital, the biggest challenge is just working with surgeons who can be a little - surgeons who are not always receptive to feedback or suggestions. You have to be able to take that with a grain of salt, knowing not to take things personal. It's not you, it's that person. As far as opportunities, I think that people, if you don't want to stay at the bedside, you have a million different directions to go with this career. My friend asked me, have you ever had trouble finding a job? And I was like, no. She goes, have you had different career, clinical settings that you've been in? I have been inpatient, outpatient, informatics. So there are opportunities out there, and don't feel like you have to box yourself into anything.

I worked with a nurse who was the sweetest person I ever knew, and she really stuck with me. If someone was being very judgmental about a patient, my friend would say things like, 'How do you know that she didn't know she had it, or she had a partner that cheated on her?' Or if someone questioned why a person was on state insurance but had a newer cell phone, she'd say, 'Well, how do you know that they don't work, but then they just don't make the money to qualify? How do you know that somebody didn't gift her that phone?' You just don't know what someone else is going through, because everybody's going through something, and you don't want someone to judge you on a snapshot of what they may see of you when they really don't have the whole picture. I think that has really stuck with me, because I try my hardest to when I think about something and I'm like, ugh, I'm like, well, what do you know? What could have happened? You can use that professionally and personally. I also think compassion is pretty important to me, just because of the patients that I took care of. They're there so much, and their families are there so much, that it's hard to not have compassion for that population of people.