My husband used to think that working in a Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) meant that I sat in a chair and watched people breathe during my entire shift. He now knows that after 12 years, there’s a bit more to being an SICU nurse than that.

I am sometimes a charge nurse of a 20-bed SICU where we take care of the most critical patients. I get people out of bed that haven’t been out of bed in five days. I am in charge of a bedside machine that checks your clotting time, and I make sure that the staff members are competent in its use, every year. I teach Basic Life Support to my colleagues. They need to be recertified every two years. I have classes four times a year. I am a mentor to four to six staff nurses. I make sure they get all their necessary classes and competencies done and follow up if they don’t. I also attempt to keep my fellow RNs engaged at the bedside. I am in charge of the yearly tuberculosis tests for my unit. I precept nursing students. (Keep doing a good job Joe from Kent State!) I am a member of my professional organization and a certified critical care nurse (I must earn an additional 20 contact hours per year to maintain that certification). I have assisted with the application for our Beacon Award for the last 3 years. I am a resource to many and still learn everyday.

I also used to be in charge of documentation but now, like the other 40-year-olds, I have to learn a new way of doing things using the electronic medical record.

I am captain of the heart walk in my unit. I get to write columns for cleveland.com.My life at homeI am a wife and mother, sister and friend. I am a daughter as well, but my parents have passed away. I hope they had nurses who took care of them like I would. My kids are young and keep me busy. What mom doesn’t say that?When I am home, I get to sleep in until 7 a.m. My little boy will say sometimes, “Mom, don’t go to work.” I tell him I have to help the doctors take care of the people who don’t feel good. He’s just 5. Sometimes during one of my crazy shifts, I think my son’s advice was right!When I am home after a two-day stretch (yes I said two days — two 12 hour shifts in a row are just right for me), I relax with my kids and go to the library, go to the cheap movies and do laundry and all the other “regular” stuff. The balance is enjoying and appreciating the positives. I have a career that I enjoy. My husband and I are raising two healthy and happy children. And a bonus to my work life and home life is that I get to work with many people whom I call friends and with patients and families who show their appreciation for what I do.

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