Health
Articles and/or Speeches

Choose Nursing, Change Lives
The Building a Better Medical Facility
Budget Address

It makes no difference if you are a new high school graduate or someone who has been in the work force for a while and is looking for a change.  The big question is always ‘what do I want to do with my life?’ For some people that is an easy question to answer. They want to make lots of money that they will spend on fancy cars, designer clothes and a big house hoping to impress their friends. Others are content to earn enough to pay the bills at the end of the month with some money left over.

There are very few people who decide that they want to make a difference. That they want to help others.  The prospect of shift work and a pay cheque that does not truly reflect their dedication to the job is not enough to put them off.  They know that working as a nurse means they will be able to not only help others less fortunate then themselves, but also to have the opportunity to teach, to experience the joy of a newborn or a families grief over the loss of a love done. To see the miracle of the human body healing, to ease pain and maybe even to inspire others to follow the same path.

It takes a special person to make that decisions. Someone who knows that they will have to spend from 2-4 years in school and then be expected to continue to keep up with the changes in Medicine by attending workshops and reading medical journals during their career.  They know that they will be expected to mentor nursing students as well as educate their patients. If they decide to specialize, then there will be days when they wonder why they ever decided that this was what they really wanted to-do.  There will be weeks when the shift work has caused their internal clock to be so confused they are no longer sure if it is 7 in the morning or 7 at night, there will be months when it feels like all the patients have blended into one person. But one day there will be a moment when someone takes their hand, looks them in they eye and tells them ‘Thank you for all your help, for being there. You made all the difference in the world’. At that point the Nurse knows why they chose this profession.

Nursing is not a ‘job’ it is a calling. Nurses are not just caregivers, but educators and an inspiration to all.  Making the decision to become a Nurse is a choice that will not only change that person’s life; it has the potential to change untold numbers of lives. Choose Nursing, Change Lives in the Turks and Caicos Islands.