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I just had a funny thought as I sipped my coffee. I wish I had read this article 19 years ago in my first few weeks of NP school. I wonder if I would have kept going to class? Probably... knowing me. I'm always trying to prove somebody wrong. Alright, alright, I'm about to let you all in on a BIG secret! Those who love me, and especially those who live with me know all of these truths, but I bet many of you are about to lose all your enamor for your health care provider. I am going to tell you about the daily life of a family nurse practitioner working in primary care. In essence, my day can be broken down into a few "sessions" or time periods.
Let me laugh with another sip of coffee real quick before I proceed.
Going back to my original "dreams" of working as an NP, did any of it come true?
Check out these posts from my fellow Hope*Writers for our monthly writing challenge. This month's theme was "daily": Oh, I Try by Jessica Weaver www.rootedunrooted.com/blog/oh-i-try Kids Sleep Meditation: 6 Daily Practice Dos and Don’ts by Ashley Olivine louvaria.com/kids-sleep-meditation/ Lessons from Daily Bread by Dianne Vielhuber simplewordsoffaith.com/2021/09/01/lessons-from-daily-bread/ Daily Conversations with God by Sharla Hallett www.sharlahallett.com/daily-conversations-with-god/
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Early morning in a hotel room in Birmingham, AL and it’s already scorching outside. The boys are asleep, but I’m still basking in the glory of seeing an old friend last night. We picked up as if we were just sitting next to each other in AP English, but in reality, it has been TEN years since I’ve seen her face and hugged her tightly.
With social media, one can “feel” like we know what’s going on in each other’s lives, but nothing replaces uninterrupted conversation and rehashing old memories. When you’re 45 and you see someone who knew you at 11 in that awkward braces-for-her, round-thick-glasses-for-me phase, any ego or feeling of adultness goes out the window. We saw each other’s hearts get broken and dreams get lived out. I twirled a flag in a band she led onto the field, and she had to witness all my annoying academic dominance in high school. Can you believe she actually apologized for something she said that was cruel to me 30 years ago? She is one of the most beautiful loving souls I have ever known! Her faith and love for God has always brought me to her like a moth to a flame; she has been a safe space for me to express my faith. Why do we all hold onto old garbage? I do it too! We all do. This time our conversation covered motherhood, marriage, aging parents, losing parents, our nursing careers, and each of our unwanted entrances into the world of rheumatology. Just like in high school, we laughed and smiled about our daily quest to do the best we can and survive the icky parts of relationships, parenting, and work. Both a little wiser, and me definitely a lot humbler (her too, I’m sure), it was refreshing to be REAL for a few hours with my friend who saw me with 2” high bangs and overalls with one strap unbuttoned. You can’t lie to a friend who has seen all that. Healing people is wonderful. It’s challenging and rewarding and exhausting and sad and scary and exciting and mundane. It’s refills and phone calls and charts and labs. It’s insurance authorizations and having the same conversations with the same patients over and over and over again.
But it’s also seeing progress and growth and determination. It’s witnessing families come together and sometimes fall apart. It’s being a steady presence in the lives of what starts as strangers and ends as friends. Can we be friends? Am I your friend? I like you. I’m cheering for you. I want you to do well! I think of you and I pray for you. I laugh and I cry with you. I love seeing your pictures of your babies and your successes. My heart hurts when you hurt. Where are the boundaries? I don’t want you to have my cell number, but I want you to tell me when you need me. How does that work? What are the rules and who makes them? I don’t want to think of you as just a name or a number. I am invested in you and you in me. Working in a small town feels like home. It’s likely that I know your mom, your neighbor, your hairdresser, and your child’s teacher. I wouldn’t want it any other way. At the end of our time together, I want you to smile when you think of me. I will always smile when I think of you. Even if you didn’t heed my advice. Even if you missed too many appointments. Especially then, because you made me work harder. I want you to know I looked forward to walking in your room and seeing you just as you are, whatever you were going through. I am thankful you put your trust in me. I know you made me laugh at least once. I saw you, all of you. I think you saw me too and I’m okay with that. |