A Mom and More

I share in the happiness of my cousin Frenie and godson Mark as they pass the June 2007 Philippine Nursing Board Exams. These two have been in my prayers for the past months. They are the only ones I know who took the exams – so, it’s a 100% passing rate for my candidates.

Frenie is our youngest cousin (my mother’s side). She belonged to the batch of RNs who had to retake the Board because she was luckily part of the controversial June 2006 batch. Nursing is a second course she took after an A.B. in Economics, in search of better employment prospects.

Mark is one of my favorite godchildren whom I have seen from childhood through his teens till now. Nursing is his personal choice; he would have been a marine engineer (and earning) by now if he took a different path to satisfy his dad. Oh! I never imagined that he’d be a nurse since he felt dizzy at the sight of blood when he was a kid.

But, whatever their overriding reasons are for taking nursing, it is not for me to question at this point.

While I am a people-person, I have never considered becoming a nurse because I always had the notion that nurses are supposed to lift, push and pull patients and hospital equipment which seem undoable with my body structure (I want to preserve my back, my wrist, my spine). I have the misconception that nurses are just GAs (grand alalays, like yayas) to doctors – I think I can organize, lead, and control better than wait for instructions, assist and watch time pass by. I don’t like wearing nurse’s uniforms that consist mainly of starchy skirts and caps, thick white stockings and white rubber shoes. I can but would prefer not to work while the world is celebrating Christmas or New Year ’s Eve, relaxing on weekends and sleeping at night. However, as a mom-wife, I have become a loving, self-proclaimed “nurse” of first instance when my kids-husband get sick.

I only hope that Frenie and Mark’s decisions to become nurses have not been purely for material obsessions (attractive salaries, bonuses, job security, houses and cars) or money but for the nobler pursuit of caring for others and making a difference in the lives of the sick whom they touch in their day-to-day work.

Frenie and Mark (and other recent passers), passing the Philippine Nursing Board exams is just a beginning. There’ll be more exams to hurdle, interviews to pass, screenings to get over with and personal choices to make before you reach the land of your dreams.

Take your next steps but first, pause for a moment and reflect on the kind of nurse (and where) you want to be for life. When you land a nursing job, remember to listen with your head and heart. Look beyond yourself and you’ll fly high (without drugs and liquor) and be happy you realized your dreams.