I honestly don’t remember the exact moment that I decided to pursue a career in critical care nursing. I almost feel like it’s been forever. When I was younger, I do remember spending time at my older cousin’s house, and looking through all of her human anatomy books. I was fascinated with her nursing text books. My favorite aunt in Mexico is also a registered nurse. She is intelligent, kind and was been a major support through my mother’s illness and after she passed away.
I was a troubled teen and young adult and although I was in college, I couldn’t focus. At the age of 21, I found myself in an abusive relationship and by 23 I was a single mother. I found the courage, with the support of my mother, to leave my unhealthy relationship and start a new life with my daughter. As part of this new chapter, I took a short course towards becoming a medical assistant, which piqued my interest in medicine. Once I started working full-time I went back to community college and started to take more classes with the hope that one day I’d get my nursing degree. My daughter was two years old when I started working towards that goal.
In 1993, my mom had a heart attack and then surgery, and shortly after that we moved to California to be near family. With the support of my mom and family I worked full time and continued taking courses towards my nursing degree. During this time, I worked and saved up money to buy a small condo, while maintaining a full course load and making strides towards my dream of becoming a nurse. I’m not going to lie; this wasn’t an easy time. There were semesters that I only took one class. There were semesters that I couldn’t take any, but I kept trying. I was a mom with a mission. I had my daughter to raise and I wanted to be a good example for. When people ask me what was my driving force was, I tell them that it was Alexis, my daughter. I wanted to be an example of success to her. I wanted to show her that anything was possible. Hard work, dedication and commitment mixed with a lot of faith in God makes anything possible.
Finally graduating from nursing school has been my biggest accomplishment. As a medical assistant I worked in pediatric clinics for many years and it was always my goal to stay in pediatrics. My favorite rotation during nursing school was the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). I loved the rush of the intensive care setting. After my first rotation in the PICU I knew that was where I wanted to be and I knew that CHOC was the hospital that I wanted to be in.
Taking care of very sick, often medically unstable, pediatric patients has been my passion, especially families who have a language barrier. There are many moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas whose loved one is critically ill, but they can’t express themselves or their hearts to nurses or doctors due to the language barrier. That was and has been my heart’s mission, to help those families feel safe, supported and care for, just as much as we are caring for their loved one.
I am grateful and honored to be a critical care nurse at CHOC. I have cared for many patients during my time as a CHOC nurse, and I’ve developed many wonderful relationships with many of their families. I have laughed with my patients and I have shed many tears. I’ve held the hands of parents as they have said goodbye to their child when we had done all we could do.
Nursing is what I love. Nursing is what I do best. It’s where I see miracles take place.
