Nurses Remember Why

Tulare - Labor Day in the U.S. is time to celebrate the achievements of workers, but many of our local residents will work that day, continuing to provide essential services to others.

Among those who will be on-the-job Monday are Tulare Regional Medical Center nurses, who were invited by their bosses earlier this year to recall why they chose their profession and share their thoughts as part of an essay contest.

Chief Executive Officer Shawn Bolouki – a former army nurse – and Chief Clinical and Nursing Officer Pat Mathewson came up with the idea in part because, as they put it, “every nurse has a story.”

But the essay contest did more than just allow nurses to tell their story. The exercise – one that others might want to replicate this Labor Day – allowed them to tap into the passion that prompted their journey, to rekindle the spirit that carried them through years of training and to inspire colleagues who may have temporarily lost their sense of purpose.

“In order for us to have a meaningful life, we need to have a purpose,” Bolouki told nurses who were feted at a special luncheon during which the four essay winners were announced. Without purpose “you go on a journey without a destination.”

Maintaining this connection between job and purpose seems especially critical for nurses because of the special roles they play in the lives of patients.

“We all care about patient care, but you have the most impact,” Mathewson told them.

Now for the winners and their stories:

Mary Ann Rojas LVN
First Place

Mary Ann Rojas, a licensed vocational nurse at Hillman Healthcare Center, was 10 years old when she decided to become a nurse.

“'I want to help people,'” was my motto. I was however clueless to how this decision would unfold.”

Her “humble journey,” she said, began her sophomore year in high school as she waded through anatomy and physiology classes that “captured my heart and soul.”

A few years later, while serving as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy, she learned the skills and techniques that allowed her to become a licensed vocational nurse.

“However, several skills cannot come from a classroom. There is no such curriculum for compassion, understanding or empathy – the very skills nurses must possess if they are to be an instrument of healing for a patient.

“My quest to 'help people' came alive as I worked with patients on an oncology ward. It was not longer about me. My job was self-less. Nursing is self-less. It is risk taking. It is giving comfort, empathy and compassion on a daily basis. It can be arduous, tearful and frustrating. This is nursing. It is never about me. It is about my patients.

These skills – “skills of the heart,” she called them – come from “tiny seeds” in the hearts of men and women who want only to help people.

Those seeds are nurtured and soon blossom and are transformed into givers of mercy. The skills of our hands demonstrate our ability to take care of our patients but it is the skills of our hearts that enable us to 'care' for our patients.

“As I continue learning the skills for my hands, I do not forget that it is my heart and the skills that have been borne in it that guides my journey. I now know what it means to 'help people.' I go forward on my humble journey.'”

Charlene Dawson RN
Second Place

Charlene Dawson journey to become a registered nurse began the day her son Ethan was born, weighing a mere 2 lbs, 5 ounces.

“He was 13 inches long, had no pigment in his skin and no cartilage in his ears. He was unable to breathe on his own or feed from a bottle, so he was placed on a ventilator and fed through a nasogastric tube. Ethan had become septic and I was told to prepare for his possible death; but he was a fighter and not only survived but thrived.”

Dawson and her husband took their son home two months later, “blissfully unaware,” she said, that her son had many more fights ahead of him.

He was home barely a week when he was diagnosed with a condition that required immediate brain surgery. His trachea was severely scared in the process and he required an emergency tracheotomy, after which he developed pneumonia and almost died. The next two years saw 13 more surgeries and numerous hospital stays for a variety of infections.

“Throughout all the surgeries and hospitalizations there were these incredible women and men who taught me to change a trach tube, encouraged me to touch my ventilated infant, helped me do IV therapy at home, held my hand and gave me hope when there seemed to be none. They were nurses, my kind and patient angels.”

When Ethan was a few months old, Dawson said she realized “I wanted to be for others what these women and men had been for me.” It took 13 years, but she became a nurse.

“I'm happy to report that Ethan is now a sophomore in high school, healthy and happy. I have been a registered nurse for more than three years, striving everyday to be a credit to the profession I so dearly love.”

Crystal Guzman RN
Honorable Mention

Crystal Guzman became a registered nurse because she wanted to be the person patients relied on when they needed someone the most; she decided to become an obstetrical nurse after the birth of her son – “a miracle baby.”

“My son was born with a triple nuchal cord around his neck that was tied into a tight true knot; he was being deprived of oxygen for who knows how long. His first Apgar score [an assessment of health] was a zero, he was not breathing, heart was not beating and his color matched the white sheet that he laid on. After chest compressions and ventilation, my baby was wrapped up in that white sheet and taken out of the room.”

Guzman's baby had been gone for a long 30 minutes when her labor and delivery nurse came into her room with a photograph of him and the wonderful news that he was now breathing.

“That day changed me forever and had it not been for the nurses who took care of me and were so quick to act, my story today may not be the same. Those nurses that day took action and without hesitation did what they needed to keep me and my baby safe. They went above and beyond, worked together as a team, communicated effectively, put all my needs above theirs and did what they needed to do to save my baby.”

As an obstetrical nurse, Guzman said she feels a strong connection with the moms in her care and it feels good to be the person who can help them through their labor, no matter how difficult.

“I take my experience as a fire that pushes me to do my job the best that I can and to keep my patients safe and to be their advocates.”

Norma Velvick, RN
Honorable Mention

Nearly 30 years ago Norma Velvick was in trouble and did the one thing she said she thought she could count on. She prayed.

“I asked God to bring me comfort and healing and should I receive these, I promised to return it by serving others who might need the same.”

Her answer came a few days later while she was helping a neighbor determine whether she qualified for a nursing program. The neighbor didn't.

“She said 'Oh, too bad I can't go but, Norma, why can't you?' I could not find a single answer for her. My journey had begun.”

Overcoming the challenges of not having money or a working car, Velvick earned an LVN degree in 1983 and an Associate Degree in Nursing in 1987.

Determined to keep her promise, she worked long hours, making frequent changes from acute care to skilled nursing to administration to staff education, to home health and finally back to acute care. She earned specialty certifications along the way.

She met her husband while working in skilled nursing. Andy, she said, had a kind spirit, love for life, a strong compassion for the sick and a kidney disease.

“I did not see Andy's kidney disease as most people did. Many questioned, 'Why would you marry someone with such a devastating illness?' I saw a person with so much life and happiness. It was just simply too easy to love this man.”

After Andy died, she considered all that had happened:

“I became a nurse to fulfill a promise to God to serve his people. I never thought I would be the recipient of that same promise. I understand now it was not about the promise I made 28 years ago, it was God's way of leading me on a journey. A journey of healing with compassion.

“Nursing has given me the same promise I made long ago.”

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