Summary

Audrey Pelayo works as a nurse for inmates in the Corrections Department of California. Working with people who most would avoid, has molded her perspective on healthcare. Ms Pelayo expresses that the hardest part about this job is not the long hours or arduous work, but the constant patient return rate. Seeing a patient return has been the hardest for her. Her advice to aspiring nurses is to not downplay the importance of a patient-nurse relationship. Just as you heal a person’s injuries, their mental health is just as important. She also urges people to remember that the reward of knowing you helped someone outweighs the temporary stress and obstacles to becoming a nurse.

Takeaway

To become a successful and effective nurse, a person must have a lot of compassion and ambition. Only by reflecting values like empathy, easily adapting to your environment, and having a keen sense of perspective for things you don’t understand can you truly become a great nurse.