My Nursing Journey

Let me start by saying that nursing has been the best thing that ever happened to me professionally. I wasn’t one of those people who dreamed of becoming a nurse from a young age—in fact, it was quite the opposite. As a troubled and misguided teenager with no clear direction for my future, it was my guidance counselor who saw my potential and encouraged me to enroll in a high school practical nursing program. So, at just 17—before I was even legally an adult—I became a Licensed Practical Nurse.

The Outcast

My first job as an LPN was at a Level 1 trauma center in Baltimore, where I had completed my clinical training. I was so young that many of my patients questioned my abilities—and honestly, I couldn’t blame them. I was new, inexperienced, and still had so much to learn. As a young Black girl from the inner city, surrounded by seasoned, talented nurses, I felt inadequate every single day. Was I talked down to and taken advantage of? Absolutely. But instead of letting it break me, I became a sponge, absorbing every bit of knowledge I could.

I wasn’t angry at the nurses who thought I didn’t belong in their profession or at the patients who disregarded my credentials. I knew I was a small fish in a massive pond, and if I wanted to survive, I had to learn how to swim—and fast. My personality has always been non-confrontational, so many of the things said and done to me in those early years barely registered. I was the rookie, so of course, I got the short end of the stick. I was given the tasks no one else wanted and assigned the patients no one wanted to care for.

A Real Nurse

I was so proud to be a nurse that it didn’t matter what anyone else thought of me. In my community, I was respected, and many of my peers looked up to me. Just a few years earlier, we had all been hanging out aimlessly, doing what most teenagers do. But now, they saw me in my crisp, all-white uniform, a nursing cap on my head, a stethoscope around my neck, and a hospital badge with the letters LPN after my name.

“Are you really a nurse?”—it was the question I heard over and over again. And every time, I wanted to stand a little taller and say, Yes, I am. I was so proud that I wanted to wear that uniform everywhere I went, shouting it to the world.

Moving On

Those early years and the challenges I faced shaped me, preparing me to work in any environment. Though I loved being a nurse at one of the best hospitals in the city, I never truly felt like I fit in. It was those feelings of inadequacy and being different that pushed me to explore opportunities outside of the hospital setting.

The nurses around me were undoubtedly smart and self-assured, but many didn’t seem to genuinely love the job. I wanted more than that—I wanted to love my work as a nurse just as much as I loved the title I carried.

A Step of Faith

After becoming a mom, I became acutely aware of the grueling hours and the emotional and physical toll that comes with being a nurse. Early on, I made a conscious decision—I wouldn’t rearrange my life around my career; instead, I would schedule my work around my life.

But that choice came with professional sacrifices. Unlike many of my peers who followed the traditional path—landing a hospital position and sticking with it no matter what—I chose a different route. I stepped away from the hospital setting and set out to find my niche in nursing.

Called to Serve

I’m always amazed at how many nurses say they hate their jobs yet stay in the same place year after year. I’ll admit, it can be scary to step into the unknown, but no risk means no reward. When people ask me, after all these years, what kind of nurse I am, my answer is never straightforward because my career never was.

Shortly after becoming an LPN, I went back to school to become a paramedic. I was drawn to the adrenaline rush of emergency medicine, especially outside the hospital. Growing up in the slums of Baltimore, I witnessed firsthand the toll drugs took on the people around me, and I felt a deep obligation to serve the community I so narrowly escaped.

I worked in drug rehab centers, neighborhood clinics, juvenile detention centers (which I loved), and various prisons. I cared for people who looked like me, shared similar experiences, and in some cases, people I knew personally. I guess the real reason I walked away from the traditional hospital setting was that I wanted to make a difference. Whether or not I was making that difference at the hospital, I couldn’t tell, but I knew that my presence, my skills, and my gifts were needed on the streets of Baltimore.

Growth and Development

While answering my calling to serve my community, I kept my acute care skills sharp by picking up shifts at hospitals around town. I don’t remember how I first got introduced to agency work, but from the start, I loved the freedom it gave me to set my own schedule and not be tied down to any one institution. Working for an agency opened my eyes to a whole new world of nursing opportunities I never knew existed. In just one week, I could work a shift at a hospital, a nursing home, a clinic, a private home, a prison, a school, or any place else where a nurse was needed.

Not only did I grow in confidence during those years, but I also developed the courage to step outside my comfort zone and begin traveling.

Travel Nursing

Today, it’s not uncommon to walk into a hospital and encounter numerous travel nurses. These nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system, helping to keep it afloat while contributing to an ever-growing part of the industry. My journey into travel nursing began over 20 years ago, when the concept was still fairly new.

It takes a lot of courage to uproot yourself—and often your family—and move to an unfamiliar state, city, or facility. The expectation is that, no matter where you go, you’ll provide the same high-quality care as every other nurse in the building.

Aloha

My first assignment in Hawaii was a mix of nerves and excitement. I was thrilled to spend several months in paradise, eager to leave the DMV area and try something new. I needed excitement and a new challenge.

So, I packed my bags, left the cold weather of the East Coast behind, and landed in sunny Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. That would be the first of many trips to this beautiful city. To say I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there would be a massive understatement. Every winter, I looked forward to returning to that small hospital as a sort of respite. I could literally feel the stress leave my body each time I stepped off the plane and into that little airport.

I grew the most professionally during my years as a travel nurse. Often, I was placed in unfamiliar environments, but the expectations were high, and I was determined to rise to the occasion.

Don’t get me wrong—each time I started a new contract in a new city, I had to overcome those early feelings of fear and anxiety. Until you step into the unknown, you really don’t know what to expect. And for the record, not all hospitals are created equal.

Stepping away

In 2017, I made the difficult decision to step away from bedside nursing for good. Just a few years before that, if you had asked me if I could see myself working in any capacity that wasn’t patient- or client-facing, I would have categorically denied it. Working with patients and training nurses was like therapy for me. No matter what was happening in my personal life, once I hit the nursing unit, I was in my zone, consumed by the issues surrounding my patients. It was like getting a dopamine shot.

Over the years, I’ve had patients and staff say to me, “You love this, don’t you?” or “I can tell you love your job.” And it wasn’t just about the people I worked with or the patients I took care of—it was the very act of helping to heal someone’s pain, whether physical or emotional. There was a deep satisfaction in knowing that, no matter how hard I worked, how short-staffed we were, or how tired I might have been, I was making a difference in someone’s life.

It’s hard for those new to the industry to truly understand how much things have changed over the years and how rewarding it used to be to be a bedside nurse. During my last assignment, I worked with a young nurse who had been in the field for about seven years, and he was ready to leave. One evening, while we were charting, he paused and asked, “Wanda, I know you’ve been doing this for 35 years, and I just want to know—why do you continue to do this?” I thought it was pretty funny because most people would ask, “How did you do it?” But all he wanted to know was “Why?” All I could say was, it hadn’t always been like this.

Florida Hospital System

I must admit, when I moved to Florida and took my first contract assignment, I could already see the handwriting on the wall. My time working at the bedside was quickly coming to an end. Despite all my years of experience in hospitals across the country—and even my work overseas as a medical missionary—nothing could have prepared me for the dysfunction I walked into at this Florida hospital system.

I had never worked in a place where so many nurses were unhappy with their jobs. Every shift, nurses would break down and cry in the med room, overwhelmed by the constant stress. It broke my heart to witness how bad things had become for these nurses.

It didn’t take long to realize how poorly the hospital was run and how many system failures were present—and quite obvious. It felt like I’d taken a trip back in time, to a place where no thought was given to mitigating barriers that impacted patient care. I had to remind myself that I was still in 21st-century mainstream America, in one of the richest places in the country.

After working in several different hospital systems, it became clear that the issues weren’t isolated—they were pervasive. The culture was dramatically different, and I knew in my gut it was time to go.

A New Chapter

So, after thirty-five years of providing direct patient care, I did what I thought I would never do: I took a desk job with a health plan—and never looked back. The landscape of nursing has changed so much over the past few decades that I hardly recognize the industry I fell in love with all those years ago. It saddens me to admit that, if I were starting out today, I’m not sure I would choose nursing as a career. But despite the changes, I have enjoyed some very fruitful years and have no regrets about the path I’ve taken.