Medical Training

There we were, sitting in the emergency room of Eden Medical Center. My husband hunched over in agonizing pain that was so bad, he could not even open his eyes. Bright lights everywhere, doctors, nurses, lab technicians hurrying by to tend to other patients. ER room number six, medical equipment, charts, carts, containers, white walls, cold air, pagers ringing, and overhead voice calling doctors…

Suddenly, from this chaos and pain, and angel appears. She takes my husband’s hand, closes her eyes, and begins saying a prayer. Her face serene and compassionate, her hand clasping my husband’s hand, eyes closed in a prayer, and then something miraculous happens. His pain becomes bearable, his facial expression changes, and he feels more peaceful, as his spirit starts filling with hope. That’s when my gaze falls on her badge: “Nancy, LVN, Eden Medical Center.”

With her motherly touch, this LVN nurse changed the energy in that ER room number six for both my husband and myself. All it took was a bit of empathy and nurture.

This was two years ago.

On this Mother’s Day I remembered her, Nancy, the LVN, who, like a mother came to hold the hand of a sick child in pain. There are so many of them, angels in scrubs, full of compassion and care. This Mother’s Day, let us acknowledge them. Because, no matter whether they are young or old, whether they have children of their own or not, each of those LVN nurses is a mother within.

Like a mother, an LVN nurse will spoon-feed you, when you have no strength to hold a spoon. Like a mother, an LVN nurse, will hold your hair back, when you throw up, and clean up the mess. Like a mother, an LVN nurse will hold your hand before an operation, and be by your bedside, when you wake up. She will be the arm to lean on, when taking first steps after being bedridden for weeks, and the shoulder to cry on, when depressed by illness and pain.

So, to all the LVN nurses: Happy Mother’s Day!

4:30 in the morning… The alarm goes off… It’s the clinical lab day at Gurnick.
“Oh, please! Just 5 more minutes!” – She thinks, but she drags her tired body out of the warm bed into the shower. Hardly waking up, she puts on her blue scrubs and nurse’s shoes and looks in the mirror. Dark circles under the eyes… That’s the least of payments for being an LVN student in a fast-paced program. “But it’s worth it,”- she says to her reflection, -“Soon, I will become a nurse, an LVN, and my life will change for the better.”

On her tippy toes, she sneaks into her little daughter’s room to kiss the sleeping child on the warm cheek and, laying her last loving glance, quietly leaves.
It’s still dark outside. She gets into the cold car and starts the engine. “Oh, I am so tired! But thank God for mom! If not for her, I wouldn’t be able to attend my LVN classes. She is taking care of my little girl, while I go to school, because she wants me and my daughter to have a better life. So, I won’t let them down!”

She has been attending the LVN program at Gurnick in San Mateo since last October.
Being a single mom wasn’t easy to find the right LVN program in California, where she recently moved with her daughter. She was looking for a better life. And this was it! This was her answer: “become and LVN student, become an LVN nurse, turn my life around, and start a rewarding career of helping people, changing their lives, while changing my own.”

There are so many such single moms attending LVN classes at Gurnick. They choose this school, because Gurnick understands and supports everyone, who wants to get an education in nursing. “This is the school that won’t turn you down, but will nurture and support you as you make your progress.” This is the school that helps you succeed no matter what your situation at home is.

Yes, the instructors are tough, the program is fast-paced, and every day is saturated with new information, new knowledge, new nursing skills to learn and goals to conquer. But all the faculty and staff at Gurnick want the LVN students to succeed. That is why they went out of their way to get their LVN program qualified for Financial Aid for their LVN students, because nobody should be turned down, if they want to become an LVN nurse. And that is why they have built a job placement department, to help the graduating LVN nurses start their careers right.

The sun is rising, as she pulls up to the parking garage. It’s 6 AM, and the clinical lab is about to start. There, she sees other students in blue scrubs hurrying to class, holding hot coffee in one hand and textbooks in the other. Their sleepy faces are smiling as they wave her “good morning.”
She waves back at them, thinking: “My home away from home, my Gurnick family. Even though we met only when the program started just a few months ago, we have become friends, and I love them. We are all in the same boat. We all have to give up so much, but we are getting much more in return!”

She steps into the laboratory room, where the instructor in the white lab coat is greeting everyone, getting ready for a new day at Gurnick, as she thinks to her self: “This will be a good day.”