Vicarious Nursing . . . or Why I Decided to Write a Blog

Mr. Webster defines "vicarious" as, "experienced or realized through imaginative or sympathetic participation in the experience of another."

I am a vicarious nurse. I dream of having a job in a huge hospital--in labor and delivery or on the transplant unit, perhaps. I see myself efficiently carrying out tasks, professionally juggling all of my duties, and saving a life or two every day. (read the above definition again; it does contain the word "imaginative"!)

Of course I know that there is NO ideal job . . . but it's my dream so I can dream how I want to!

When I was in nursing school I considered moving far from where I lived at that time--a small town in the midwest (and for you "big city" people, "small town" is NOT 30,000--a "small town" is more like 5,000 or less . . . . the town in which I grew up had only about 1,000 people)--to a huge city with huge and specialty hospitals.

During my last year in college, the Army and Navy were recruiting and a group of nursing students went on several trips sponsored by those services (who wouldn't pass up three days in Florida in February, or three days in SW Texas in March???). The benefits were great, I'd always wanted to travel, and I seriously consdered signing up.

However, my then-boyfriend, afraid I really WOULD disappear on my world-wide travels, proposed, and all of my thoughts of joining the Army disappeared in a cloud of wedding preparations. A few years later we moved back to the family ranch . . . and here I am today, with teenagers, living in the country, and the dream of working a big-time job in a big-time hospital is not going to happen in this life.

Not that I regret it (most of the time, anyway!). I know I've idealized those big-time jobs . . . and there's no way I could be an active mom in my family if I did have a full-time big-time job. Some moms have an undending supply of energy, but not me!

But I think everyone in my situation, about my age (I recently celebrated the 23rd anniversary of my 18th birthday), thinks about "what could have been." That's where the "vicarious nursing" comes in. I love to read other nurses' blogs (some of my favorites are listed in the sidebar) and imagine, even if just for a few minutes, being a part of a big organization, learning new skills, and really making a difference.

I know there are a lot of unhappy nurses out there. I think I would probably be one of them if I was working in a big facility, too--my absolute priority is patient care and that's very difficult to provide with all of the restrictions, paperwork, and administrative tasks nurses have to do, as well as simply having too few nurses.

I hope this blog will encourage nurses--nurses who are just starting out, and nurses who are perhaps burned out or tired of the profession. I hope that nurses who are not working in the field right now, other "vicarious" nurses, might enjoy this blog as I've enjoyed others.

My job is almost perfect . . . but still has its difficulties and frustrations. This blog, therefore, will have several purposes--therapy, for me, and hopefully encouragement for you, my readers.

I look forward to your questions, comments, and suggestions.