The person who has had the biggest impact on my nursing career was my first boss at my very first nursing job as a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN). I have been an LVN since 2009 and I have met a lot of people working as an LVN. Most of the people that I have met have impacted by nursing career to some degree but none have made as much as a big impact as my first boss as an LVN.  

Fresh out of nursing school, I knew very little when I first graduated and obtained my License as an LVN. I met my boss at a flu shot event where we were both volunteers. I started to work with her shortly after that event. She was the administrator that a home health agency and she did home visits for clients every now and then. We worked together for almost ten years. During those ten years, she took me under her wing and taught me as much as she could. Most, if not all, of my skills as a nurse were sharpened because of her. I didn’t always agree with her management style because she had a tendency to micromanage but I always look up to her assessment and clinical skills. Her assessment and clinical skills are something that I hope to be on the same level on some day. She showed me what skills as a nurse is possible to achieve.

Before I got into nursing, a supervisor at my old job told me that being kind can sometimes cause people to get jaded and resentful when you get burned enough times. At that time, I had somewhat of an idea of what those words meant but I never knew how true they were. My boss showed me how to persevere and better myself despite being in less than ideal circumstances. Her kindness to her co-workers and the clients that she was providing care for were something that I wish all nurses possess. Sometimes her kindness weren’t always reciprocated. There was a time after she was consecutively and almost constantly being let down and disappointed, to say it mildly, by people close to her. The words of my old supervisor immediately came to my mind. I was worried that she would become bitter and resentful. Instead of being resentful, she showed me that there is a way of being kind to other people while not letting yourself get taken advantage off. Through her, I learned how to be assertive without being abrasive, how to be kind without being naive, and how to be confident without being arrogant. She showed me how a nurse should carry himself or herself.

She, for me, set the standard as to what a Registered Nurse should be. She set bar to that I hope I would be able to measure up to. I would not be the nurse that I am today without her help. She was my boss, my mentor, and my friend. She showed me how to be a nurse.