Trisha Bielski

I really think it's having two parents that were just hard workers. My mom is a retired nurse, my father is a retired carpenter construction worker, and they're still working around the house and just busybodies. Seeing them so dedicated to their jobs and family gave me inspiration and drive. I'm a go-getter like them, so I think they are definitely the inspiration behind everything I've accomplished.

A colonel told me when I was transitioning out of the military that I would go through seven or eight jobs before I really decide on what feels right for me. It wasn't necessarily advice, but more just being real with me about what happens. The reason this happens is because when you're in the military, you don't really get a choice of what you get to do. You're a certain rank, you do this job, here's your next assignment. You just suck it up and do it for two or three years, then move to the next job, and that's your whole career. So when you finally get out, you're still trying to figure out where you really fit. I've already gone through three jobs in the five years I've been out, and that's part of the transition.

If we're talking about nursing, it is a difficult field of work. It can be thankless most days. But that one time you get a patient that smiles at you, or says thank you, or gives you a hug, really puts it all together and puts it into perspective. You have to get thick skin, because it is a very difficult, draining job at the same time with all the responsibilities that you have on your head. But stick with it, because it's still a great profession, even though there's so much that we have to do. Never stop questioning, and never stop learning, because when you stop doing both of those, then that's time for you to move on. That's what I used to tell my students when I was a clinical instructor.

Healthcare is so broken, and I think that's the biggest challenge. As you get older and get more experience and educate yourself, you notice things differently. I have drastically changed my outlook on healthcare from when I first started my education to now, and it's completely different because my eyes are more open. I realize we've been lied to a lot, and it makes you really second-guess everything you've done through your career, like did we do the right thing? Healthcare as a whole for the United States is broken. It's very political, very high cost, and we don't have great outcomes. So how do you make it better? There's no right solution. It's really challenging to work in that realm because there's so many different pieces that are broken. I can't boil the ocean, so I'm trying to figure out how I can just maybe help in this little component of it. Everything boils down to power, greed, control, and money, and if you took all of those away, things would be a lot better.

Honesty and integrity are most important to me. These values come from the military, where we had an acronym called LEADERSHIP for our Army values: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Honor, Selfless Service, Integrity, and Personal Courage. That's who I am. I grew into these values, and I pride myself on honesty and integrity. I expect others to do the same, but I have to remind myself that's not necessarily the case with everyone. I know that I can sleep well at night because you know who you're getting with me, so either you like it or you don't.