This piece was chosen for the 2022 Kappa Zeta at-Large Chapter Essentials of Nursing Scholarship.
Essentials in Nursing Scholarship Entry: Trust and Nursing
In 1965, newly married and graduated from nursing school, 28-year-old Evelyn Gaudrault set off for Tunisia, North Africa, where she would spend the next two years serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the city of Gabès. It was there, working with children in impoverished villages to promote health and nutrition, that Evelyn, my grandmother, developed a love for nursing in parts of the world with the greatest need. She returned home to New England, raised six children while working in various nursing roles, and turned her focus to expanding her impact overseas. While pursuing a Master’s Degree in International Studies, Evelyn founded Intercultural Nursing, a nonprofit organization that provided nurses with volunteer opportunities at clinics in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Evelyn herself made over two dozen trips to these countries. She received no compensation for her work, and many times set up facilities from scratch in areas where families and individuals had no access to healthcare. On several occasions, she served at Mother Teresa’s Home for the Sick and Dying in Haiti, even meeting Mother Teresa herself. In 1990, she was designated as a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International, an award rarely, if ever, given to a woman.
Today, I find it amazing that I knew nothing about my grandmother’s story until after her death nearly two years ago. In the final years of her life, as Alzheimer’s disease tightened its grip on her brain and body, I watched my grandmother receive a constant stream of care from those around her: My grandfather, too stubborn to admit her to a nursing home, various family members, and a handful of nurses and aides who made almost daily visits to her home. Before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Grammy rarely spoke about her career as a nurse. Sure, I saw the pictures, and the letters, and even the rosary beads from Mother Teresa, but, being a self-occupied preteen, it never occurred to me to ask. It wasn’t until her funeral, seated on the hard wooden pews of the church, that I listened with rapt attention to various people–many of them my grandmother’s former patients–describe a woman I had never known. It was then that I began asking questions, sifting through those old photos, and learning about the nurse whose legacy I, as her granddaughter, would soon be in a position to carry on.
The work my grandmother accomplished was far from glamorous. My father recalls accompanying her on several trips to the Dominican Republic, where she treated children in orphanages stricken with diseases rarely seen in the United States. She reached the most unreached people–the rural farmers and inner-city families and motherless children–whom the rest of the world had forgotten. With her unwavering faith in God, she shepherded a small army of volunteers as they spent long days working at makeshift clinics, treating a steady stream of patients and distributing medical supplies. It was through these stories, stories of poverty and disease and caring for others under the most difficult conditions, that my desire to pursue nursing was cemented. Just a month into my first semester at the University of Massachusetts’ Stockbridge School of Agriculture, I began filling out applications for nursing school, eventually deciding on the University of New England and moving back home to Maine to begin my nursing journey.
I share this because my story is not unique. Though not every aspiring nursing student has a family member or close friend in the profession, we are all acutely aware of what it entails. Nursing is never glamorized, not by the media nor the individuals who share their stories with us. We are told of the long days, the difficult patients, and the not-so-pleasant smells. As the Coronavirus pandemic swept the nation, we read articles plastered on the front pages of newspapers about nurse burnout and severe staffing shortages. We all heard the stories–the overflowing ICUs and unsustainable work hours and patients dying without family members by their side. Yet instead of scaring prospective nurses away, the pandemic had the opposite effect. Nursing school enrollment across the country increased nearly 6% in 2020 (Washuk, 2022). Programs are seeing record numbers of applicants, and students are being placed on long waitlists to begin classes. The state of Maine recently introduced legislation to expand registered nursing programs, with a proposed $2.5 million being given to community colleges (Laclaire, 2022). Instead of running away from the profession, individuals of all ages are sprinting towards it–and in droves.
As a nursing student, I, along with my peers, entered the profession knowing its often unglamorous reality. We are made all too aware of the stress, fatigue, and burnout that accompanies nursing, especially in today’s world. And that’s exactly why we pursue it. Nursing remains among the most trusted professions because each new generation of nurses is acutely conscious of the legacy they are called to carry on. We also know the difficulties it will entail. My grandmother’s career may have been heroic and noble, but my greatest takeaway from her story was how hard nursing truly is. She, along with countless others, established the trust that patients have in nurses today, and we, as the next generation of nurses, are responsible for upholding their legacy. I hope to follow in the footsteps of my grandmother, traveling overseas to care for those with the greatest need. Yet no matter what my journey will entail, I know that the best way to continue earning trust is to keep learning. To keep telling the stories of those who came before me, deriving wisdom and inspiration from their paths. Learning, internalizing, and ultimately following their examples will help us uphold the trust and respect they worked so hard to establish in all corners of the world.
References
Laclaire, H. (2022, March 3). Stepped-up training cuts Maine’s projected nurse shortage in half. Portland Press Herald. https://www.pressherald.com/2022/03/02/stepped-up-training-cuts-maines-projected-nurs ing-shortage-in-half/
Washuk, B. (2022, February 27). Maine nursing schools see enrollment rise amid pandemic. Portland Press Herald. https://www.pressherald.com/2022/02/27/maine-nursing-schools-see-enrollments-rise-a id-pandemic/
