Rachel Thompson

I attribute my success to having a great team around me and never giving up. Working with coworkers who have been doing this for 15 plus years is incredibly encouraging because nursing is a tiring job that takes a toll on people. Seeing how far they've gotten and how much they've done for themselves, their careers, and their personal family lives is amazing and shows me that this is something I can do, that it's a great career to be in. It's so important to know that you have a team you're working with because it's not always a one-man job. Having that support around you during your scheduled hours is great and beneficial for the patients and yourself. I also think saying yes to opportunities has been crucial. Always putting yourself out there, even when it's scary and you're dealing with people's lives, is how you become confident and good at what you're doing. It takes time, education, learning, and patience to be an excellent nurse, but being able to collaborate with doctors, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and other nurses is so important because everyone plays such an important role in helping someone as a whole.

I would say to never give up. It really is true. Push yourself forward and know that there is an amazing outcome and a light at the end of the tunnel when you see all of this. Always, always say yes to opportunities that you have. I think it's so important to always put yourself out there. I know it's very scary at first and it's limiting to go into a field like this where people know what they're doing and it's critical and you're dealing with people's lives, not just a light thing. But to be able to say yes and take opportunities that are available to you, even in clinicals when you're in school, it's so important to say yes and to try things because you want to be confident. You want to be good at what you're doing, especially when it's dealing with people's lives and it's a scary day for people to go into the hospital. Knowing and being educated on what you're doing in the hospital and what you're there for and why you're treating people is so important, and it takes time. It takes a lot of education and learning and patience to be able to get there and be an excellent nurse or doctor or whatever kind of healthcare provider you are.

There are so many opportunities in nursing that people don't realize. I was just talking with a friend today who's getting into nursing school about all the different kinds of opportunities and jobs you can do as a nurse, going from being a case manager and working from home, to working in a hospital, doing aesthetics, or being a forensic nurse. There are so many opportunities out there, which I think is amazing because people don't realize that. A lot of people think of healthcare and they're like, oh, nurses work in the hospital, but there's public health nurses and so many things. It opens up such a broad opportunity for you to try new things and to help people on different aspects, whether it's physically or mentally. On the downside, it is very hard depending on the kind of nurse that you're doing. You're dealing with people's last day of life, having to give unfortunate news for diagnoses, and it's not always a positive outcome that you're giving to people or working with people for. It can be a very hard time for people and it takes a lot, having your own way of coping and being able to know not to let it burn you out and get to you. You want to be there to comfort people when needed, but it's something that you kind of have to compartmentalize in a way because you go back to your other life and you're happy, you're home, you're blessed to have a functioning body and family. Not everyone has that, so just working with a diverse community is very challenging but it makes me very fortunate for what I do have.

The dedication and the influence that I have on my community is very powerful and heartwarming to me. I know it's very cliche for people to say, oh, it's helping the community, but I really do find comfort and encouragement helping people because people come in and they don't know anything about healthcare, they don't know anything about how the system works, what's going on with their body, why they're feeling a certain way. It's encouraging to be able to educate people on that, and I love being able to educate people because it is a very foreign thing to people who are not in the medical field. Being able to do that is very motivational for me, to be able to help educate others on things that I know and that I'm educated on for them to go about their daily lives and to live comfortably and not stressed about things. Outside of work, getting vitamin D and sunshine is very important for me. I love to exercise, and on my days off or when I have time, I'm always either going on hikes or walks or going to the gym. Being able to exercise really helps me decompress from work, and I think that is a huge way of how I cope and how I express myself and feel good for myself. My husband is a firefighter, so he understands what I go through and what I see. It's nice to be able to talk to someone at home who understands the things that we do see and what we go through and to be able to comfort me. It's nice to be able to get outside and do those things together.