Mona Clayton, RN Publishes Compelling Blog Site To Drive The Future Nursing Community

Mona Clayton, MSN, RN, CEO of The Nurses Pub

LOS ANGELES – Dec. 6, 2018 – PRLog — In just one moment our destinies can be changed by choices that we make. No one knows that when a life-changing health issue will occur that can alter our lives in an instance. I never personally recognized the magnitude of organ donation until I witnessed a liver donation for my Uncle Danny.

I have learned many things since this formative time—as a registered nurse and as a family member. As I observed my family member’s nurses in the surgical intensive care unit, I forgot the demanding skill set and high intellect needed to perform to keep a patient alive. As I watched this petite, youthful, energetic and skilled nurse work tirelessly for the 12-hour shift; I became more enthusiastic about what I have done over the past 23 years as a nurse. As nurses, I don’t believe that we realize the significance of what is done because we just perform! But during this heroic experience of my loved one fighting for life, I became more aware of the honor that I hold of being called a registered nurse.

Many prayers were answered as my family and I prayed feverishly for a successful match for a liver—that it not be rejected and that my family member would survive. It was quite difficult to see a man so full of life, enthusiasm—the one at all of his friends and family members’ bedsides—succumb to one of the most critical forms of medical attention, a transplanted liver. The liver is the largest solid organ and largest gland in the human body; it’s the source of detoxification and is needed to help digest food. It is only God’s divine intervention and the fantastic medical team that pulled us through this most difficult period.

Noticing that the various IV drips such as Epinephrine and Dopamine in addition to Dobutamine and other devices were monitored and managed effortlessly—like a classical pianist playing a melodic tune on a piano—I was overjoyed at the knowledge, power and critical thinking of this young nurse named Lindsay. Not revealing my profession, I tested this nurse’s knowledge to find out her attitude and skill set. As many older nurses tend to eat their young, I was proud to see this vibrant nurse at the bedside of my uncle. I asked Lindsay question after question, and she knew all of the technology, answers to labs and other significant data. During the course of her caring for my uncle, there was a need for her critical thinking and optimal assessment skills, which saved my uncle from the most ominous heart arrhythmias. I was saddened that this young energetic nurse had to endure her own thoughts of being the “cloud” on the unit in which she readily and openly named herself because she was present during both of the code blue calls.

I knew at this point my reasoning for being there with Lindsay was not by happenstance but to give her hope and encouragement to endure this profession. I had to reassure her that she was not a cloud but instead a source of hope and light—and that she represented the profession with the utmost excellence. I was humbled by her respect for me as I announced my years as a professional nurse. As I watched Lindsey literally shaking from the adrenaline it took to perform a successful code blue coupled with the fact that for days she was unknowingly observed by a seasoned nurse, I felt the need to give her a warm hug and reassure her that she must continue to be the excellent nurse that I observed while she cared for and saved my uncle’s life on two occasions.

I have learned so much during this experience as I watched my uncle Danny do the “Danny Dance”; a dance of survival, fighting for life and watching God’s miraculous hand help to heal and revive a faltering heart and liver. I have been renewed as a nurse because sometimes we forget our purpose—our reasoning for late night study marathons, for knowing our craft and our passion for helping others. It was my interaction with Lindsay that helped to renew my thoughts of where I began and to witness the importance of what I have done for so many years; unknowingly that family members, nurses and students have possibly watched me during the course of my nursing years and that I, in turn, have renewed their faith in the nursing profession.

I continue to watch my Uncle do the “Danny Dance,” beating all odds and watching the miraculous work performed by the nurses while regaining the need to do more for the community of future nurses. I want to renew the hope and the heart of nursing that some nurses like me or Lindsay humbly do not recognize and the importance of why God’s meticulous plan that has orchestrated our journey from student to nurse!

We all have danced to some sort of life’s challenges, but watching the “Danny Dance” has been the most influential. I now know that nursing is more than a profession; it’s a form of daily renewal and reviving one’s spirit and dedication to saving lives.

For the future nurses, I would like to leave you with words of encouragement. There is life after nursing school but you all must dance your own unique rhythm. Be the nurse that will run to the code and not from it, master your craft and have confidence that you are well equipped to hold the title of registered nurse. Never forget to remember your struggle and most importantly never never never stop dancing!!

Nurse Mona is the CEO of the Nurses Pub, inspirational speaker and author of “From Student To Nurse Surviving The Journey—As Painlessly As Possible,” and has been featured in Black Enterprise Magazine, Working Nurse Magazine, The Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper, Los Angeles Wave Newspaper, Our Weekly Newspaper, Minority Nurse Magazine, The University of Phoenix Buzz , Grand Canyon University Today, The University of Phoenix Center for Health and Nursing Research Magazine and The Los Angeles Business Journal Magazine.

ENJOY MORE OF NURSE MONA’S BLOG SITE AT: https://nursesroc2.wordpress.com/bloggin-with-nurse-mona/

For interview or speaking requests contact Eboni Pace via email [email protected], see website @www.nursemona.com