Forty-one years of Nurse's Weeks have come and gone.

Nursing wasn’t my childhood dream or even my chosen profession.?It was my calling.?

Over the years, I have collected many stories to tell, learned many lessons, and seen so many things, including the good, the bad, and the ugly!

Reflecting on some of these, I wanted to share a story each day this week of nurses that I have met and worked with and what they meant to me and my career.

I was a young and inexperienced nurse.?I had been out of school for about two years, and I was working two jobs as my family was just getting started.?Job number two was a weekend job at a large community hospital, where I worked as a charge nurse from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. every Friday and Saturday night on an overflow surgical unit.?The unit was only supposed to open Monday through Friday for people who had relatively minor surgeries but needed a night or two in the hospital to recover.?

Since the hospital was often full of sicker patients, the patients placed on my floor were supposed to be discharged home by Saturday morning or, at the latest, Sunday morning. The unit would be closed until Monday evening when new surgical patients would begin to arrive.

One night, when the unit was full and pretty busy, the staffing office notified me that one of the nurses was sick and that the evening shift house supervisor, TD, had volunteered to stay over and help.?My immediate thought was, “Oh great!?Someone from the administration will spy on us all night and not do any work, so I will have to pick up their share and do my work.?This is going to be a long night!”

TD arrived at the unit just in time to take a report from the nurse whose shift was ending.?We quickly introduced ourselves, and I started with the tasks and patients I was assigned to care for.??

That night, to my surprise, went incredibly smoothly.?

TD and I formed a friendship that night, a bond that has endured to this day.?There have been times when years passed between our meetings, but when we reconnect, it is just like we saw each other yesterday. This is the lasting impact of a mentor in nursing.

TD is a nurse’s nurse.?He loves being a nurse and caring for his patients.?He is super intelligent, knows patient care inside and out, and cares deeply about his patients.?He is a fantastic leader and mentor.?I really lucked out that night!

Great things I learned from TD:

? Not everything happens the way you think it will.?Let go of your fear or false beliefs, as they will hold you back.?When you let go of what you think will happen, you will be pleasantly surprised by what actually happens!

? Not all supervisors are?created equally!?Seek out the ones who not only support you but also mentor you.?If you have the opportunity to be a supervisor, be the mentor you wish you had.?Remember, as nurses, we need mentors and coaches to help us learn clinical skills and handle stress, conflict, communication, and other “soft” skills.?This transformative power of mentorship makes our profession so unique and rewarding.

? Being a nurse isn’t what you do; it’s who you are.?TD has a massive heart for caring for people regardless of the place, the pay, or the person he cares for.?I learned how to be a better leader by watching him lead.?I learned how to care for ICU patients through his teaching and coaching.?I saw him be technically brilliant and, at the same time, hugely compassionate. These are the lessons I carry with me every day.

The friendship forged that night will never be lost or forgotten.?It is often said that nurses eat their young.?I am forever grateful that TD nurtured this young nurse in what became a lifelong friendship instead!