Tasheima

I became a nurse because I naturally like to help people, and because of my mom—she is a nurse midwife. I saw the way she dealt with her patients and how she deals with us, and because I idolize my mom, I decided to be just like her and become a nurse, too.

I love to help people. It’s a natural thing to be able to talk to them, find out their needs, find out what they want, find out what’s their problem, and be first-line in being able to help solve the issue for them.

A typical day for me would be to start by reviewing the queue. Just reviewing charts or records of patients that may have had a visit the day before or last week, and try to see if there is anything abnormal. You can call [the patients], maybe send a medication, or just check up on them and make sure that they’re okay.

Then the patients start rolling in. A lot of the patients are newborns, so the moms have tons and tons of questions. You have to answer the questions and make them feel comfortable.

And then I just answer questions. I go back to the review box, I answer phone calls, and the cycle continues until it’s time to go home. Busy day, different situations, but it keeps the excitement going every day.

Ask questions. Sometimes it’s difficult or challenging when you deal with a more seasoned nurse. You can come with maybe not feeling as equipped as they are. I’ve been through it, we’ve all been through it. Just ask questions. Because nobody knows everything. I don’t know everything. You’ll be better. You’ll do better.

I pray. No, I’m joking. I do pray, but I take care of myself by compartmentalizing things. So when I’m at work, it’s about work, it’s about patients. When I get home, I’ll spend time with my kids. So I’ll hug them up, kiss them up, play with them, go over their homework, let them tell me about their day, even if it’s two words over and over and over again.

I had twins that came to see me a few years back. The mom just recently moved from California, and her son had major issues. And she was homeless, so she didn’t have housing. She was in an abusive relationship. What she needed for the kids was housing. What she needed was for them to be seen, and she just came in.

The social worker was gone, and there was nobody else there. So, I had to figure out how to call social services, get her temporary housing, and get her sons help. I followed up with her, made sure she was comfortable. I even gave her some money so that she could get them some food later on in the day. I gave her my number, and to this day she still contacts me, and she still checks in with me.

I used to do local things, talking to the kids at conferences. We would go upstate with the youth of the church at the time, and kind of address what their issues were in a welcoming environment with people they already knew.