I Am a Critical Care Nurse Kevin Xuereb, RN, is a staff nurse in the burn intensive care unit at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Hospital in New York.
Why did you become a nurse? I was working for the American Red Cross, where I came in contact with dozens of nurses who were volunteer instructors. I spoke to them about their work and I was amazed to find how diverse the nursing profession could be. All the nurses I talked to loved what they did, and they all mentioned that they were never bored with learning. I was impressed and inspired. What about your job as a nurse makes you happy? Working in a burn unit is physically demanding and exhausting, but it means so much when a patient squeezes my hand and thanks me for helping him or her. Or when the mother of a pediatric patient hugs me at a follow-up appointment because her child survived, in large part due to the care the child received from me and my fellow nurses, that means a lot. Tell us about an extraordinary experience you’ve had as a critical care nurse. I cared for a young woman who had 3 children. She had been in a plane crash and suffered major burns and inhalation injury. The patient had been severely ill and we were not sure if she would survive. Miraculously she did. We decannulated her one morning and her family (who lived in another state) was unaware of her tremendous progress. She immediately asked for a phone to call her kids. Her mother answered the phone and the patient said, “Hey mom, it’s me! I’m going to be OK. Can I speak to the kids?” I could hear her mother crying on the other end, the patient started crying, and her children spoke to her through tears of joy. Then I started crying. Looking in from outside the room, it must have looked ridiculous, but inside the room, it was my greatest moment in nursing. ©2015 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4037/ccn2015687
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CriticalCareNurse
Vol 35, No. 3, JUNE 2015
What are the challenges you encounter and how do you overcome them? My biggest challenge is caring for people who, regardless of how you treat them, will always be angry. I am reminded that I cannot change who they are. I have to meet patients as the people they are. What has your journey as a nurse been like? Overall my journey as a nurse has been wonderful. No 2 days are the same, and I keep learning because my education is never complete. As I develop as a nurse, so must my skills and knowledge base. It is not always easy, but as nurses we must evolve and change with the times. At the end of a busy day, how do you find balance in your life? I love spending time with my wife and 3 kids. I love going to the zoo with them or watching one of their favorite movies while lying on the floor, with my children using me as a pillow. What would we be surprised to know about you? I can recite both the Sound of Music and Disney’s Frozen. “Kurt, that’s the one I left out! God bless Kurt.” How has AACN played a role in your career? As a new nurse in the intensive care unit, I felt like I was pushing a boulder up a hill. Every night at work I felt like I was going to drown during the entire shift. I thought the residents were so smart and knew everything. I felt like I needed some support. Then I heard about AACN. I used my goal of getting my CCRN as a motivator to learn everything I could about critical care. For example, if I had a patient with a chest tube, I would look up articles about that topic. I made this process into a game. “What could stump AACN?” The answer: nothing. &&1
I Am a Critical Care Nurse features the extraordinary in a critical care nurse’s ordinary experiences. To be featured in this department, contact Critical Care Nurse via e-mail at [email protected].
www.ccnonline.org
Why did you become a nurse? I was working for the American Red Cross, where I came in contact with dozens of nurses who were volunteer instructors. I spoke to them about their work and I was amazed to find how diverse the nursing profession could be. All the nurses I talked to loved what they did, and they all mentioned that they were never bored with learning. I was impressed and inspired. What about your job as a nurse makes you happy? Working in a burn unit is physically demanding and exhausting, but it means so much when a patient squeezes my hand and thanks me for helping him or her. Or when the mother of a pediatric patient hugs me at a follow-up appointment because her child survived, in large part due to the care the child received from me and my fellow nurses, that means a lot. Tell us about an extraordinary experience you’ve had as a critical care nurse. I cared for a young woman who had 3 children. She had been in a plane crash and suffered major burns and inhalation injury. The patient had been severely ill and we were not sure if she would survive. Miraculously she did. We decannulated her one morning and her family (who lived in another state) was unaware of her tremendous progress. She immediately asked for a phone to call her kids. Her mother answered the phone and the patient said, “Hey mom, it’s me! I’m going to be OK. Can I speak to the kids?” I could hear her mother crying on the other end, the patient started crying, and her children spoke to her through tears of joy. Then I started crying. Looking in from outside the room, it must have looked ridiculous, but inside the room, it was my greatest moment in nursing. ©2015 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4037/ccn2015687
88
CriticalCareNurse
Vol 35, No. 3, JUNE 2015
What are the challenges you encounter and how do you overcome them? My biggest challenge is caring for people who, regardless of how you treat them, will always be angry. I am reminded that I cannot change who they are. I have to meet patients as the people they are. What has your journey as a nurse been like? Overall my journey as a nurse has been wonderful. No 2 days are the same, and I keep learning because my education is never complete. As I develop as a nurse, so must my skills and knowledge base. It is not always easy, but as nurses we must evolve and change with the times. At the end of a busy day, how do you find balance in your life? I love spending time with my wife and 3 kids. I love going to the zoo with them or watching one of their favorite movies while lying on the floor, with my children using me as a pillow. What would we be surprised to know about you? I can recite both the Sound of Music and Disney’s Frozen. “Kurt, that’s the one I left out! God bless Kurt.” How has AACN played a role in your career? As a new nurse in the intensive care unit, I felt like I was pushing a boulder up a hill. Every night at work I felt like I was going to drown during the entire shift. I thought the residents were so smart and knew everything. I felt like I needed some support. Then I heard about AACN. I used my goal of getting my CCRN as a motivator to learn everything I could about critical care. For example, if I had a patient with a chest tube, I would look up articles about that topic. I made this process into a game. “What could stump AACN?” The answer: nothing. &&1
I Am a Critical Care Nurse features the extraordinary in a critical care nurse’s ordinary experiences. To be featured in this department, contact Critical Care Nurse via e-mail at [email protected].
www.ccnonline.org
