Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1187856
Working Nurse l WorkingNurse.com 27 November 18, 2019–January 13, 2020 "Coaching new staff helps me pay it forward." Ruslan Marder, CMSRN, BSN Assistant Nurse Manager, Medical-Surgical Services CEDARS-SINAI ADVISING THE NEXT GENERATION (CONT.) J. Marlowe Batayola, Keck Medicine of USC } Make sure your reason for becoming a nurse is genuine and that you're not in it for the money. You have to love what you do because if you don't, it shows in how you care for your patients. Joel Arangorin, Methodist Hospital of Southern California } My advice is simple: Believe in yourself. Whatever challenge you may face, believe that anything is possible if you truly put your mind to it. Eliminate the word "can't" from your vocabulary. Brandon Anderson, Loma Linda University Children's Hospital } Embrace your emotions. As a nurse, you will find yourself constantly caring for patients in their most vul- nerable states. Providing the highest level of care will require vulnerability on your part as well. Tapping into your emotions will allow you to both feel for and feel with those you treat. What do you particularly love about your specialty? I grew up as a sickly child, with several hospital- izations, so healthcare wouldn't have been my first choice of professions. However, I went through a youth employment development program where I had the opportunity to work after school at Cedars-Sinai. When I completed the program, I was offered a fulltime position! I was later able to work there fulltime while pursuing my undergraduate degree and later my BSN. The most rewarding part of my job is seeing others who are going through a jour- ney similar to the one I went through, going to school to obtain their nursing degree or prepare to enter a nursing program. Coaching new staff is also quite fulfilling, as I feel like I'm helping to pay it forward. Please share the funniest or most moving thing that's happened to you as a nurse (bearing HIPAA in mind). I once took care of an elderly man who had an unbelievable passion for cigars and well-made scotch. Due to his health, he couldn't have either, but I would make the time to sit with him and listen to his stories about the good old days. While we never were able to have a toast together, I like to think that just being there to listen to him was therapeutic — I know it was for me. To this day, whenever I have a little scotch, I am forever reminded of him and our bond. What has being a nurse taught you? Being a nurse has taught me to always look at things from another person's perspective and to be an understanding, compassionate and caring individual.