“I’m very proud to be a nurse at this time. And I’m proud that the nursing profession itself is standing up in this very uncertain time.”
Kate Bayhan – emergency room nurse and CSUF lecturer
I deeply empathize with some of the struggles that I hear from the students and even my colleagues on the craziness of the time we’re in. For me, it’s very much a balancing act. Two of my children are currently in school.
So, during the day, I spend most of my time with them, and then I work on all my grading and all those things, and then we alternate on working schedules. It’s kind of that personal calling to say, I have worked this hard for a moment like this, that I can actually make a difference in that hospital setting.
The risk is to me, to my family, all of those things. And even if I do everything 100 percent right, the risk is still there.
One of the things that I’ve been most overwhelmed by within the nursing profession is, how very ready all my colleagues have been to stand up for this moment. Right?
You have this idea that we would help each other in a time like this, and now we’re at that time. And I think it’s easy to not answer that call.
It’d be easier to go like, “I don’t want to take those risks,” but the nurses that I work with have really risen to the occasion. It is very much a team effort, caring for really ill patients in a high-stress environment where we’re constantly geared up, and you rely on that team.
And the nurses who are showing up despite, and the nurses who are speaking up to advocate for the cause, advocate for PPE, it’s a beautiful time to be a nurse because of the impact that we’re having.
Not just socially, but in the hospital setting, politically. Right? And I’m very proud to be a nurse at this time. And I’m proud that the nursing profession itself is standing up in this very uncertain time.
