“That’s a hard one. I’m not sure,” Shelby Stratton said. She looked down to her knees that were crisscrossed and squinted her eyes. As she was deep in thought, her blonde ponytail slipped over her shoulder and covered her eyes. “I just want to make a difference in their lives.”
The air was tense. Looking at Stratton and the lines drawn in her face, it was easy to see that she was thinking. What did she want to accomplish in nursing?
It was an open-ended question of opinion, but that didn’t make it easier. Nurses are what make the medical world-go-round, as they say. They provide joy and comfort to families.
“My favorite part is helping people and seeing how much they appreciate you,” Stratton continued. “The studying hasn’t really cost me anything, but it does make me busy. Really busy.”
Busy seems to be the common word around the nurses.
“Outside the hospital, {nursing} has really killed my social life. I have to spend so much time studying, and when I’m not studying I’m at the hospital,” Haley Mathes also commented, “I don’t really have time for my friends anymore. My friends back home, we’re not really friends, and my friends here I don’t really see that much.”
Though studying hasn’t really hurt Stratton at all, Mathes believes it has hurt her friendships, as well as her relationships.
“My boyfriend hates it,” she said with a chuckle, “I’m never really home and when I am I’m usually studying.”
Bailey Powers also stated that studying has hurt her relationships as well.
“It gets very difficult, time consumption wise. When school started I actually had a breakdown. I didn’t know how to incorporate the social aspects with the whole nursing piece.”
“It actually almost broke one of my friendships here. Luckily, that friendship was strong enough that we just sat down and we talked about that we had been pulling apart and it wasn’t just because of soccer or anything but also because I had been studying.”
Both Powers and Mathes want to pursue work in the NICU. They believe that their struggles will be worth it, though all three of them have thought about quitting at some time or another.
“Oh, everyday. Seriously, I think about choosing something different everyday,” Stratton laughed, “But I’m glad I’m doing it.”
This shows lots of good observation, Mari. You could add some attribution with Bailey, so it’s clear who is speaking. I’m kind of interested in the breakdown. Will you pursue that at some point?
I wasn’t there, but “the air was tense” seems like it might be too much for the moment. Maybe the question just hung in the air. An extended period of thought on what should have been a simple question.
I really like the detail of the first speaker in your story. The blond ponytail and how she answered the question gave it some extra detail that helps you empathize with her. I know a lot of nursing and pre-med/med students will agree with your interpretation of studying.