Nursed to Nursing

Twenty-five years ago, I gave birth to premature baby girls. One of those baby girls weighed three pounds. She was a fighter and God strengthened her and helped her to survive many obstacles. She was born with a ventricular heart defect, a cleft palate, was in respiratory distress and on a ventilator, and survived a bleed in her brain that doctors predicted “could make her learning disabled”. I remember sitting by her incubator (and her twin’s) rubbing her little leg, not much larger in dimension that a marker or small twig. The palms of our hands cradled and encompassed her tiny head. The heel of a woman’s sock (embellished with lace) was the closest thing to a hat that would fit her tiny head. We never doubted God for these two precious packages delivered to us, to survive and thrive.

Fast forward twenty five years. This tiny baby, nursed and nurtured by medical professionals, today begins her internship as a nurse practitioner. In her white coat, name tag, and office with her name on the door, she is about to launch her new career as a nurse practitioner. The nursed premature baby has grown into a successful, caring health care provider. God has used her hands and mind to save lives as a cardiac nurse. Families of her patients tout not only her nursing abilities but also her compassion and concern for patients AND their families.

I know the health challenges she and others in our family have faced have sculpted and prepared her for this career. Some proficiencies cannot be learned from textbooks and professors – skills such as compassion, integrity, kindness, empathy, and a deep desire to help mankind. Stephanie did not enter this field in search of a well-paying career with exceptional job security. Life dealt her a difficult beginning with challenges paving her pathway over many years. Unlike many people who dwell on their challenges and allow them to rob hope and dreams, she grasped knowledge and experiences of a heart patient, developed into an exceptional cardiac nurse and now begins her new life journey to touch and heal and believe in her patients, just as those neonatal nurses in 1984 believed in her.