The Women, The Legend, The Healthcare Professional: Maura Graham

Summary and Reflection

I interviewed Maura Graham, a certified nursing assistant/care partner (CNA) and a future graduate of VCU’s Accelerated Nursing Program. She is currently working at VCU as a “care partner”  in the Surgery Trauma ICU, and plans on continuing her nursing career at VCU. Maura has received a Chemistry degree from VCU as well as a  Nursing degree from VCU on December 9th, 2022!

Maura has always had a passion for nursing because the majority of her family were nurses, but she really fell in love with the science behind it. She started taking chemistry classes in high school and then went to VCU to get a Chemistry degree. She plans on becoming a certified registered nurse anesthetist, which requires at least 3-5 years of nursing. She stated that the most rewarding aspect of her career is giving back to the world, and letting patients know they’ve been heard and are respected because without either it can become difficult to treat them and make them feel better. The most surprising aspect of her career is that “people are crazy,” and nurses can be really mistreated by patients, family members, and even other healthcare workers. Nevertheless, she still loves her career and is ready for any challenge or obstacle she sees. For example, she assisted a surgery where a 90 year old woman’s left side of her jaw was missing, and they reconstructed it, with what was described as “bike chains.”

Maura also expressed her concerns about VCU and other healthcare offices about how they could be more climate-friendly. She personally tries to maintain cleanliness of supplies, so they don’t get thrown out, and tries not to create excessive waste. Even with those efforts, it definitely seems like a lot of waste and materials are thrown away. She recommended that hospitals should donate supplies and materials that don’t get used or are “waste” to third world countries or countries who could benefit from it.

I learned a lot from this interview, I got more insight on nursing and how much work they actually do. I also received advice from Maura that I would like to share, and that is to “be kind and patient.” Being in a healthcare profession is already difficult, but being kind and patient can make a huge difference with your patients and yourself.