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"The Career of Science and Loving People"

That’s what I say whenever someone asks me why I became a nurse. I get to exercise my mind, gathering information in collaboration with a team of professionals, uncovering why the body does what it does. Then I also get to exercise my heart figuring out how to heal the soul. The doctors can make the calls on how to fix the body. I get to make the calls on how I can help my patients nurture their soul. It’s a collaborative effort 100%, and not to say one profession offers more holistic care than the other, but what I feel is the difference between the one profession over other, is that to put it simply, we nurse.

"The guy nurse with the hair."

My name is Brandon. As of 2019, I have worked almost five years as an LVN. I am currently on track with graduating with my RN at Pacific Union College. The majority of my experience has been in the Skilled Nursing Facility setting and I've dabbled in Home Health as an LVN and I marketed for a Home Health company for a few years. Marketing is down right my most least favorite position I held, but despite that, there is a lot to learn, in any field of nursing. 

 

My looks and mannerisms don't exactly match the grain of my co-workers, not only am I often the only male nurse, I'm a male nurse with long hair, I have many piercings, and I power walk everywhere at work. Not rushing, I call it a sense of urgency. I've heard it said a couple times, "I don't remember his name, but he's the one who moves too much." "He's the one with the hair."  

Although I've been a nurse for 4 years, I'm going to be green on the scene as an RN. I'm so excited about all the places to go. ICU. ER. OR. Ah its so exciting all the things to learn and see. I have an idea where I want to take my career, whether it takes me to the hospital, traveling, nursing home, etc. But in my heart, I know I want to do more. In addition to contributing to my patients one to one, in the "micro" scope, I want to heal in a macro setting. I want my influence to affect others in a community level. This is why I started this blog. I sat on this idea for awhile because I know other blogs are ran by people with their masters in nursing education, or in the very least have had their RN and garnered so much experience to share. Compared to them, what do I really have to share? What contributions do I have that are truly worth mentioning? I don't know what pushed me to make the jump, but I said, "Fuck it. I'm starting a blog." :]

I have always wondered what my identity was as a nurse. People can have what ever title or degrees after their name, letters to signify their work and diligence, but that says nothing about who they are as a nurse. I've worked with nurses with varying titles, performing on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of patient advocacy and knowledge of their scope (in my opinion). So although these titles signify many things, I think who we are as a nurse is defined by our actions. I am hoping that through this blog, my actions will reflect who I am and with your help we can be a community where we can learn to grow and be our best selves. 

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