It has been over four years since I have had a patient interaction. That changed this week. Thankfully.

In a single moment I remembered exactly why I chose the nursing profession. The skills I worked so hard to acquire and develop started coming back to me. I sat with a young woman needing knowledge and help to make her life and health better. In short, I fell back in love with nursing. Did I ever really fall “out of love” with the profession? Absolutely. I got tired of working holidays, the short staffing, the egos. The great thing about nursing, though, is that it is versatile. So, I changed my nursing practice into one with a more systematic and public health view. It was a great decision, and it brought me to where I am today, but something was missing. The patients. The touch I thought I wouldn’t miss. I was wrong. I did miss it, and now I feel like I have the best of both worlds – leadership and management with opportunities for patient interaction.

That young woman and others left their fingerprints on me this week. I <3 nursing.