For the Love of Nursing

 Sara Fugate, RN
Emergency Department

I was raised with the belief that “things happen for reasons” and these “happenings” afford us the opportunity to make choices. Though we might not know the answers or the ultimate result of our choices, there is a plan set forth and it is up to us to discover its meaning.

At the age of 13, I developed a serious medical condition which threatened my life. This required a major operation performed by Dr. Robert Sadler, a cardiothoracic surgeon. Through his kind and compassionate manner, my fears were calmed. The example of his devotion to my well-being planted a seed that would later develop into my desire to work in the medical field. But when I put high school behind me, I made other choices.

I felt a career in teaching would satisfy my desire to help others. So I received my degree in secondary education. However, I was not happy. The prospect of spending the rest of my working life in a classroom environment was not appealing. At that time, I “happened” to be living near a college that provided the opportunity to become a registered nurse. Though nursing school was demanding, I knew I made the right decision.

Currently, I work in the emergency department at Holston Valley Medical Center. It consists of approximately 53 beds with annual visits nearing 83,000. On any given day, we will treat an average of 226 individuals. With 136 staff members for the ER, this is a big task.

Our goal is to have every patient in an examination room within 25 minutes from arrival and be seen by a physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner within 45 minutes. Our department excels at identifying ST-elevated myocardial infarctions (heart attack). In fact, the standard time set forth is to have the patient in the cardiac cath department within 90 minutes of arrival to the ED. Many times, we have succeeded in less than 60 minutes. For a heart in jeopardy, this is a great accomplishment.

However, statistics can easily overshadow what it is truly like to be nurse in a Level One trauma center. My coworkers and I are constantly facing new challenges. There is nothing like walking into the department, not knowing what will happen during the shift. At any moment, the EMS may race through the corridor with a patient experiencing a stroke or cardiac arrest. Seconds later, the call for “Trauma Alert – Level One” may be announced as the helicopter lands on the helipad. The emergency room, as a whole, becomes a team. Although adrenaline may be pumping through our veins, we acknowledge and understand that the patient before us is a family member to someone else. In addition to proper care, respect for their dignity is of utmost importance.

Nursing does not terminate at the end of a workday. In public, I have reminded children to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. I have also stressed to parents the importance of properly securing a child in an automobile. I have explained to them that there is nothing worse than having a child enter the trauma room following a vehicle crash in which they were not properly restrained.

I firmly believe that life is a precious gift. It is part of our responsibility, as members of the emergency department, as well as any other medical staff, to educate and remind those of its meaning.

My choice to become a nurse has brought me great satisfaction and “happens” to be a love of my life.