Post-Interview

We all have people in our lives who we look up to not only personally but also in a professional capacity. The nurse who I interviewed on February 24^th, 2021 is an amazing woman who has dedicated 30 years of her life to be a nurse as well as 15 years teaching and inspiring certified nursing assistants and future health professionals. This one person has dedicated their life to helping others and given it all she has on every day. It was apparent just from listening to her talk that she is passionate about what she does and views obstacles as learning curves to overcome. 

Although I have known this nurse for 6 years, I was able to learn so much more about her journey through her career during this interview. After high school, she attended a diplomacy nursing school and became a registered nurse after 2 years. From there she went on to work at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth Mass on various different floors. She mostly worked in the cardiac ICU where she worked as a charge nurse. Based on the way the health care field started to change, most diploma nurses or LPN’s were required to go to school to get their BSN or continue to work but in a lesser capacity. After dedicating so much time to nursing and going from a leadership role back down to a lower position was a hard transition to make. While going back to school she began teaching at the high school as the assistant teacher for the Allied Health technical program. This program was a culmination of practical and educational content that leads to the certification of the student as CNAs by the end of their junior year. These role changes taught her a lot about what it meant to be both a formal and informal leader. 

As the charge nurse, she was in a formal leadership role where everyone looked up to her and she was in charge of the day-to-day the floor. Once her role changed and she was now practicing in a different capacity she took on an informal leadership role of leading by example. She explained what the transition period was like for LPN’s as they were forced to restructure the care they were allowed to perform and how many of the LPN’s were resentful of the younger BSRN’s who has so much less experience and in some cases no experience yet they were considered to be their superiors. After going through this change at work she also had to take on a new form of leadership in the classroom as a teacher that she had never taken on before. I asked her, “based on all the leadership positions you have had thrown out your career, what has been the hardest aspect of being a leader?” She responded, “ I never saw myself as being a leader until I became a teacher. When working as a nurse no matter your title everyone works on the same level and works together with mutual respect. But as a teacher, you have all these young people looking up to you and expecting so much out of what you are to teach them.”  She went on to talk about the fact that being an educator for potential young health professionals is a stressful job and a lot of responsibility. “As you know, you students have so much trust in  Ms. G and me, and you guys trust and expect us to provide you with the skills needed to be CNAs. This is a lot of responsibility for us and luckily our students have created a great reputation for this program within our community and the facilities they work in.” I was surprised by the wording she used when answering this question and the fact that she said the students created a great reputation. Even though she provides the student with the education and skills needed to succeed in their careers, she personally does not take the credit for that. 

I learned during this interview that a nurse leader does not only pertain to positions in a hospital but also encompasses leading through education and example. This leader I interviewed does not view themselves as a leader. Once I told them that’s how I saw them and looked up to them both professionally and personally they responded by saying, “I was just doing my job, but thank you that means a lot.” This she views her job as a nurse educator as well as a nurse as a position to provide help to those in need whether it be a patient or up-and-coming health professional. A leader is not just someone who barks orders at others and has a particular title. A leader is someone who inspires others to do better and makes strides to achieve a common goal. I also learned that a good leader doesn’t take credit for other successes but rather acknowledges their influence in the matter but is able to see that it was not all their doing. A leader knows their own strengths and weaknesses as well as the strength and weaknesses of the team and is able to overcome these obstacles and work as a team to achieve the goals set. This interview experience was very informative to me in getting to know someone on a different level. I have only ever viewed them as a leader and someone I was able to look up to. Years later now that I am no longer their student and about to become a nurse myself, our conversation was more at a level of peers talking to each other and I was able to develop a new level of respect for them as a person and leader. I will apply what I learned from her in all aspects of both my student career as well as a professional one. A good leader leads by example and is able to ask for help and admit when they are wrong.