Claudia Bartz is a nurse in the US, and she accepted to share what convinced her to be a nurse and why?
What convinced me? I remember telling my 3rd or 4th grade teacher that I was going to be either a teacher or a nurse but I have no idea where that came from.
Then, between my first and second years at university, I decided that my first year in ‘general studies’ was not very interesting. So I decided to change universities and apply to enter the baccalaureate nursing program as I began my second year.
This was during the Vietnam – US war so the Army was recruiting nurses and paying them while they were in school. I had no money really so the Army Student Nurse Program was a fortunate path for me as I began my third year at university.
From then on, I never wavered in my choice of profession. I have learned so much and met so many people in different environments during the decades since I graduated and I value all of it.
Why be a nurse? First, a successful nurse approaches health and the provision of healthcare in a holistic way. We try to see the whole person/family/community and we try to look beyond the immediate state of things. Second, a successful nurse has a wide variety of opportunities to work toward making a difference.
One can administer a system, manage a care delivery entity, be a researcher, be an educator, be an entrepreneur and so on. I only hope that I can contribute to continuing progress for nursing, health and the provision of healthcare. Claudia is the head of WeMentors at the Women Observatory for eHealth and provides tips for mentoring in eHealth.
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