Ramona Hovey, RN, Asheville Cardiology Associates
Nursing is...a calling and a gift.
One of the first statements I recall making as a child was in answer to the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up, little girl?" to which I readily replied, "I'm going to be a nurse and I'm going to have four kids, 2 boys and 2 girls".
All of these things came to pass, although not in that order. I married at the age of fifteen, got pregnant right away and at sixteen gave birth to a baby boy. Less than a year later I gave birth to a daughter, then 14 months later another daughter, and 19 months later my forth (and final) child, a son, was born thus completing the second part of the prophetic statement of a five year old child - four children - two boys and two girls before my twentieth birthday.
I was a child bride, raising four children, married to an abusive and at times very violent man, living in the coal fields of southern West Virginia in the 1970s. What about the plan to become a nurse? That dream never died. I thought about it daily. I not only dreamed about it but I set out on a journey to make it happen. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I knew I had to do it. It was as though something inside me kept pushing me along, often one baby step at a time.
I attended evening classes and completed my GED (at that time you had to be 18 years old to obtain a GED). I immediately started taking whatever classes the community college offered at night at the local head-start/community center. When my youngest son was three years old and with the other three children in school, I registered full time at the community college and applied for the nursing program. I spent one year completing my non-nursing program requirements while awaiting acceptance into the program. I got accepted into the program and graduated in 1982, thus completing the second important part of God's plan for my life. I then embarked upon a journey that has brought both joy and pain, tears and laughter, but a journey that I wouldn't change for anything in this world!
A nurse is not "what" I am, it is "who" I am. My personal philosophy of nursing is that it is a calling upon one's life. It is different from a job, it is a way of life. Nursing is a set of behaviors, which includes but is not limited to, compassion and caring for others that helps them become the best they can be in all aspects of their lives. Nursing reaches beyond physical health care and seeks to bring healing and wellness to the mind and spirit as well. When a patient has a physical illness the nurse realizes that there are stressors associated with that illness that also affect the patient's emotional and spiritual well being. Likewise when a patient suffers emotional / mental trauma it can manifest as physical symptoms and can also challenge the patient's spiritual belief system or faith.
Nurses realize that as human beings we are more than the sum total of our parts, and that all aspects of the person must be considered when delivering nursing care. The nurse also realizes that health is not simply the absence of disease. A patient can have a terminal physical illness and yet achieve spiritual and mental wellness with the help of a knowledgeable and compassionate nurse who competently coordinates the patient's care. A nurse is an advocate for patients and a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves or do not know what questions to ask or to whom to go for answers.
Looking back on that statement that came from a five year old girl and grew into a reality that has given my life meaning for so long, I can see God's plan so clearly now. I have survived many heartaches, abuse both mental and physical, but being a nurse helped me through it by giving my life purpose. Hood, citing Dr. Viktor E. Frankl, writes "Finding meaning in one's life enables persons to survive harsh conditions..." (pg 64). Frankl (1984) also wrote, "For the world is in a bad state, but everything will become still worse unless each of us does his best." It behooves each of us, as nurses, to do our best to bring about change in the realm in which we have been given influence. Health care today, despite all our knowledge and technology, is in a bad state, but it will only get worse unless each of us does our best!
