I'm a nurse. Three words that can change everything.

by Barbara A. Blakeney, MS, APRN,BC, ANP

A few weeks ago, I was at the airport. I had cleared security and taken a seat to await my boarding call. Seated next to me was a woman talking on a cell phone. Normally, I wouldn't pay much attention but the quiver in her voice and the tremor in her hand as she tried to write down information caught my attention. It was clear from her conversation that she was hearing very bad news about the health of someone who was very important to her. There was talk of surgery and a question of a possibility of not "making it."

She was trying to take all the information into a mind that was racing with fear and emotion, wanting to be there and being too far away to get there quickly. She struggled with the logistics of being picked up at the airport, getting to the hospital, letting others know what was happening.

When she got off the phone, I waited a moment and then asked her if she were alright. She smiled through tears and assured me that she was. But she kept crying. I gave her a minute and then asked the same question, "Are you alright?" As she began to say yes, I said, "I'm a nurse."

With those three words, her body language relaxed a bit and she began to tell me what was happening. Her mother had suffered a heart attack and was undergoing triple bypass surgery. It was all unexpected and very frightening. Over the course of about 20 minutes, I heard about her family, what it was like to grow up in rural Maine, who was and wasn't speaking among the siblings and why, and a fair amount of what can only be described as sensitive family history.

For my part, I answered her questions and tried to prepare her for what she would see when she got to the hospital. Mostly, I listened and offered support.

When her flight was called, we both stood up and she hugged me -- hard. When she got to the door to the jetway she turned, smiled through her tears and waved to me. I had practiced nursing the way I always want to practice it. I had helped her. I felt like a million!

For so many of us, the opportunity to practice our profession the way we know it should be practiced is a daily struggle. Yet we hang on because we know what can be -- what should be. We fight to create the environment to restore our practice. We use every tool available. Tools such as health policy and legislation, regulations and strong nurse practice acts, workplace advocacy and collective bargaining, N-STAT, credentialing and Magnet recognition, staffing standards, research, reimbursement for advanced practice, inclusion on provider panels, and the list goes on.

ANA works to define, refine and strengthen the infrastructure of nursing so that we all might someday practice nursing the way we know it is meant to be practiced.

What do I mean by that?

That's a column for another day! 'Til next time . . .

Barbara A. Blakeney, MS, APRN,BC, ANP