I am currently a nurse with Fircrest Residential Habilitation Center. I have been a nurse for seven years and at Fircrest for two years. My life long passion has been to work with people with intellectual and physical disabilities.
I began this work when I was in college when I started to work at group homes to earn money for school. I then worked for 11 years as a special education teacher for students with significant medical needs and saw how much the nurses were able to assist them in feeling better and even prolonging their lives. Late in my teaching career I had a student in hospice care and saw the wonderful care the nurse provided her and her family, and this was the final inspiration that made me change to nursing.
A memorable moment of the past year was when one of my clients with multiple medical needs was diagnosed with COVID. It was amazing to see the whole team jump into gear to do everything we could to keep him comfortable and safe. I could see the worry of not only his biological family but his family of roommates and caregivers as well. He had to be hospitalized, but survived the ordeal. I will always remember the relief and joy that everyone had when he was able to return home.
The nursing field has always had to struggle to get and keep people in the field. I think that one of the things that people don’t realize about nursing is that you don’t have to work in a hospital if you don’t want to and that you can work in environments that are not all blood and gore. There are so many different specialties and things to learn within the field that you can keep yourself challenged for a whole career.
Amy Robertson