Kyra Osten: The Good Nurse
The nursing profession has a wide variety of specialties, ranging from labor and delivery to ICU. When I started nursing school, I had no idea which field would be the best fit for me. The choices were daunting. The opportunities seemed endless. I felt as though I had to quickly make some impossible choices about my future career.
That was until it all clicked. Months after my internship, I finally realized exactly what kind of nurse I wanted to be. I didn’t have to make the impossible decision that was eating me alive because it all came together.
I had the answer the whole time. I realized that it didn’t matter what specialty of nursing I wanted to pursue. At the end of the day, the most important thing was that I gave my patients the best care they could receive. I understood that all I wanted was to be a good nurse.
During the summer of 2024, I did an internship at a hospital. I worked as a secretary, patient care associate (PCA), or as a companion in the hospital. I would work one of these roles two shifts a week, and my third shift of the week I would shadow a nurse.
As a student nurse intern, I was put into the resource pool. I was able to experience nearly every unit in the hospital during my internship. It was great to get exposure to each unique floor of the hospital. I was able to see the good and the bad on the different floors and the levels of care.
I met some nurses I genuinely idolized, nurses who cared about their patients. One day, I was shadowing a nurse who had a patient with pain in both of his feet. When we did our initial assessment, his feet were black.
The skin looked necrotic, and he had extreme pain when we touched his feet. This is when the nurse I was with pulled out alcohol pads and started wiping down the feet so we could get a closer look.
We quickly realized the black stuff on the patient's feet was dirt, and his feet were ok. Since he was in so much pain when we cleaned his feet off the nurse called the doctor to ask if we could order an x-ray on the patient's feet. After we did the x-ray and saw the results, I was amazed.
The patient's feet were both broken. This patient had broken feet for months and was too scared to go to the doctor. We then put a wet-to-dry cast on his feet and gave him pain medicine so he could finally go home and resume his life.
Without the nurse's care and diligence, the patient may have never been able to walk again because of the constant pain he was in. I thought about how I wanted to be as good as that nurse when I graduated.
Then, I shadowed some other nurses who had a completely different work ethic. These nurses showed the contrasts that exist in the hospital and helped me choose what I want to aspire to be. There’s good and bad everywhere in the world, and the hospital is no different. I aspire to be the good.
One instance that really bothered me happened over the summer when I was a PCA. I had gotten the patient report from the other PCA. She told me that my patient was Spanish speaking and did not know English.
I wrote this down on my piece of paper, not thinking twice about it. I walked into the room to get my patient's vital signs at 7 am, and the patient was awake. Even though it was early I introduced myself and said “buenos dias! Me llamo Kyra.”
Then I asked “Habla ingles?” I thought this patient was going to say no and that I was going to have a rough day trying to communicate with him. My patient answered, “I can speak little English.”
My mind was blown. The fact that previous caretakers had not even asked if the patient could speak English was heartbreaking. The hospital can be a terrifying experience, especially if English is not your first language and you have no idea what is happening to you. It is even worse when the people who should be taking care of you do not even take the time to try to communicate with you.
We talked extensively during his patient care. I asked him about his family, where they were from and other conversational small talk. We had connected on a professional and personal level.
When he went off to surgery, I told them that I would be here when he got back to take care of him. When the patient returned, the first thing he said to me was, “I missed you!” He was still loopy from anesthesia, but this made me feel like I was on top of the world. I felt like I did my job, and I did it right. I was so excited that my patient said something so sweet.
I went to one of the nurses and told her what my patient said to me when he got back from surgery. The nurse replied, “You know they have like three wives. That’s probably why he said that.” Hearing that come from someone whom I should look up to was demoralizing.
All I could think about is what does that have to do with me? Just because I was taking care of him the way he deserved to be treated doesn’t mean he wants me to be his fourth wife. The rest of the shift I stayed to myself. My elated moment was gone, just like that.
Then there were the moments with the sweet older ladies or men. The lonely patients that no one had visited. I spent a lot of time with these patients, making sure they ate, got cleaned up, changed their sheets, etc.
I would have the most meaningful conversations with these people who would talk about their families, what they did before they retired, how long they were married. These conversations not only meant the world to me, but they also meant the world to them.
I would go into their room and know everything about the patient, and the nurse would come in after me and give them medications and leave with no personal connection.
\After three short months of working in the hospital, I knew I had chosen the right career. I knew I was born to take care of people who needed me. I was in love with the idea that I could go and make a difference. However, I was still overwhelmed by all the possibilities.
That brings me to today. I am writing this paper as a senior graduating in December of 2025. I have decided what kind of nurse I want to be. I want to be a nurse that would help, encourage, learn, adapt, and get to know their patients.
I want to be the nurse who might be a little behind on what they need to do because they spent extra time with one of their patients. I want to do everything I can to make being in the hospital a more comfortable environment. I want my patients to feel like they are safe and secure in a scary situation. I want to be a good nurse.
Kyra Osten is a nursing major at Lander University. In the summer of 2024, she completed an internship at a hospital. She plans to graduate in December 2025.