Christina Ven
Prof. Tom Maltman
Freshman Composition
13 February 2017
The Life of a Licensed Practical Nurse
For those of you who don’t know me, my dream is to become a nurse. This all started when I used to volunteer at the Masonic Nursing homes in seventh grade and got the opportunity to assist in activities with the elderly residents. This experience really had me open my eyes and see how hard these residents get through their daily lives everyday. This is important for a nurse to be a good role model for their residents/patients that includes lots of patience because with something dramatic happening interferes with these residents/patients tends to degrade their life down. So giving these residents/patients with some encouragement and reassurance about how everything we do will hopefully heal their wellness for themselves. One last thing I would like to add about how being a nurse is the reward of making a difference in someone’s life is important. So as of right now I continued my love for elderly residents at a assisted living in Rosemount, and thought it would be a great idea to interview one of our LPN’s whose name is, Amy. Amy has experience in the medical field since she was 16 years old. During the interview with Amy we had various conversations about her background, why didn’t she choose to become a registered nurse, why this department of nursing and something she will never forget about as working as an LPN that I will be covering in this profile essay.
A background history about Amy’s life has been an adventure through this world of the medical field. Amy is from Theft River Falls, Minnesota. What brought her the idea to become a nurse was this class called, Medical Careers in high school. One day during class there was administrators from a nursing home came in to talk about their facility and solicited the students about becoming a certified nursing assistant and work with the elderly at the nursing home. Amy decided to go try that a route and ended up working there for three years until she went to college. Amy went to college in Moorhead, MN and got her LPN there. Her first job as a LPN was pediatric home health aide since she loved kids. This job involved a lot of one on one visiting at their homes. Pediatrics home care wasn’t always consistent either just because if these children who initially gets support through this department were to end up in the hospital, there would be no work involved during that time frame. She took care of children that had a tracheal, which is when a child’s throat was born with a closed throat, so these kids would go through surgery and get a tracheal put in that will help them breath, swallow, air secretion. Other dynamics Amy was involved in were pediatric home health aide job was kids who had brain injuries and vents. One of the most challenging things Amy had to face with pediatrics home health care was that every time she met a new client, you never know what their background is like with culture and family standards, or even types of dynamics you would be associating with.
Amy on the side from working with pediatrics home health care, volunteered to helped families with disability children to take them out and spend time with them when family needed time away from their child for a few hours or so. Parents that have children with disabilities can be a full time assist of cares throughout the rest of their life just with how severe their disorders can intervene into being a incompetent adult. These families appreciate anyone out there, especially Amy who will help alleviate some time for these busy parents and advocate trust to perform the best job that anyone or Amy can do with these unique children. All of these experiences listed that Amy encountered, eludes the compassion she has for all who enters in the support of these cares.
There were various reasons as to why Amy did not exceed the direction of becoming a nurse. Amy explained that when she was a student, she was not the brightest lightbulb there was to motivate herself through all of that schooling to become a registered nurse. Amy at least wanted to pursue a career in caring with helping people so ended up going to college to get her licensed practical nursing degree at Moorhead. Her intentions after receiving her LPN was to get married and start a family since she was pregnant at the time. By looking back at her past, Amy felt as if she grew up way too fast and wish she continued further into her schooling to become a licensed registered nurse. Amy’s thought between a licensed practical nurse and a registered nurse does not show an immensely large difference besides the fact that a registered nurse has a way more variety of departments to pursue in and make way more money. Amy has the ability and the knowledge to that degree of a registered nurse she feels, its just she isn’t licensed to be one.
Amy chose this elderly’s department of nursing for various reasons. Amy loves making a difference for someone who is declining or accompany a resident who usually doesn’t have family around as much, especially when the holidays come around she likes to pop her head around with the residents to wish them a happy holiday. Amy believes that every resident has a story to tell about their past history experiences. A lot of these stories included majority of how life has back in the day has changed a lot versus in today’s world. One of the residents Amy associated with talked about how horses significantly was a big impact for her transportation. Another part of why Amy misses working in a assisted living facility was that she loves interacting with geriatrics that helps evaluates residents’ strengths and encourage them to better their wellness. She has been living in Rosemount for five years and watched our assisted living started to build up since she lives so close near by and felt as if her heart needed to be there with everyone.
Since Amy has been through many created moments with these loving patients, she offered to share some experiences she will never forget as a LPN. There was a night she was working in high school as a CNA on the overnight shift where she was sitting at the nursing station in the memory care unit charting on the computer. This facility she worked at was pets acceptable and they had a house cat for the floor and its litter box sat right next to the nursing station. All of a sudden she began hearing a someone peeing inside of the cat litter box. As she turned over for the intention to peek at the cat it was a resident peeing inside the litter box. That was a night to remember she thought to herself, and had to escort him back to his room. This man had the mind of a cat where he would even lay on the wood floors in the lounge area and sleep on the ground by the piano.
One other story Amy empathized on was about this very ignorant and aggravated lady who always gave all of the workers a hard time to satisfy her needs, and threatened you on the regards about your “poor” work ethics to the administrations. So one day, Amy was trying to get all caught up with cleaning her residents rooms after breakfast that consisted of taking out trash and makings beds. Amy was a across the room where the lady resided in, with her family that came over to visit. With the door cracked open, Amy could hear faint talks of the lady’s addressed conversation with the family about how she felt about Amy doing a great job all the time. That showed Amy that it wasn’t herself who felt like she was doing a horrible job after towards the harassment and degrading that resident was approaching her with. That gave her a life lesson to not take any of rude things you can receive from these people offensively because yes they really do appreciate the help you are giving them and they would be no where if it wasn’t for any of us nurses. In the medical field you meet some wonderful and unique patients that comes across your life that can either make your day or roughs it all out.
Overall, from this interview from Amy really just motivated me even more to succeed to be called an official registered nurse one day. So many interesting stories that I am waiting to create memorable and be the life changing in a person in need. Amy believes that being a certified nurse is the best way to get your basic experience out of nursing and to see if its right for you and where you belong. Nursing isn’t for everyone. These resident/patients are living in a state where everyone has todo everything for them such as helping with getting up, taking a bath, going to the bathroom which makes them feel helpless and impatient because its not what they are used too and tend to get mad at themselves which ends up getting thrown on ourselves since we are working in this surrounded environment.
Amy had made me realize outside of the box about picturing myself that will put me in the worst mood ever. So when someone else is in that same situation, try to approach it differently by feeling for their sense of need and figuring the best way to help out. You can’t please someone all the time, but with an effort of help can be the chance to work. “We care to our given people, and try to make them feel special as much as possible since its the end of their life because that is what we are here for with the wish they wish for now,” Amy’s quote she addressed after the interview.
Works Cited Page
Cota, Amy. Personal Interview. 27 January 2017
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