“…People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Interestingly enough, this quote by Maya Angelou was my senior quote in high­-school and it has proven true in my career as a nurse in so many ways.

My mother is a labor and delivery nurse at Memorial Hospital Jacksonville, Florida. I wasn’t too sure about what specialty I wanted up until I was about to graduate high school. In 1995, my grandfather was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). During a 7 year battle, he was relatively strong up until the last couple of years, eventually ending up in the intensive care unit December 2002. The knowledge and compassion the nurses had for not only for my grandfather, but for our family as a whole led to a moment of clarity for me that I will never forget. I knew right then and there that my calling in life was to be a nurse. Even though we were going through a difficult time, something during my last visit with him struck a chord and opened my eyes to the future.

Two years of being a critical care nurse, I looked into becoming a nurse anesthetist. At the time, I was moving to Gainesville, FL. I took a position as an Operating Room (OR) nurse and quickly realized my passion for Heart and Vascular nursing. Two years later, I moved back home to my family in Jacksonville and continued as a Heart OR nurse at Memorial Hospital Jacksonville. It was in the OR that I prided myself on being organized and always having what the surgeons needed. One of my all­time favorite stories was when we had a traveler come work with us. The surgeon had asked for a beaver handle and the traveler took his time in the cabinet which led the surgeon to shout, “What the **** are you looking for, a furry animal?!” I loved the OR! The environment is like none other in nursing. Sometimes, after a great surgery we would all just jam out to our favorite music. The feeling we had knowing we had just saved a life was tantamount to the ecstasy of a great song. What happens in the OR stays in the OR. Not really ­ but the camaraderie and friendships last a lifetime.

Two years into working back at Memorial, Orange Park Medical Center (OPMC­ sister HCA hospital) was breaking ground and starting a new Heart Program. This intrigued me. The director of the hospital came to Memorial to “scout” out their future Charge nurse for the new heart team. At 26 years old, I had just bought my first house, a new car, and was (in my mind) on top of the world. Did I mention I was naïve? My current boss at the time knew I could handle it but she felt that I wasn’t quite “there” in regards to starting a whole new program. I took the position anyway, and decided it was something I needed to do in my career.

2010­-2011 was truly an eye opener for how important it is to not only have physician support but to have administrative support within your facility. This was my crash course to nursing management. My duties at OPMC: charge nurse, holding nurse, recovery nurse (in the OR when beds not available in new unit) supply orders, scheduler, call nurse (24/7 – literally), instrument cleaner, stocker of all items, IT, janitor, maintenance, protein shake buyer, leg massager, nose scratcher, radio DJ, joke teller, mediator, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. This was one position I wish I could have kept longer, but the physical and mental demand was extremely exhausting. It was taking over my personal life and I knew I had to do something before I was stuck in a position where I lost my license. I shortly learned about a Surgery Coordinator opening at St Vincent’s Medical Center, in Riverside Jacksonville, FL. This was a much bigger program but it was an older, more established program and I figured NOTHING could be as difficult as what I had just went through, NOTHING. And so, as I often do in my both my personal and professional life, I went for it!

As a Peripheral Vascular and Heart Surgery Specialty Coordinator, I learned much more about nursing management. There was a lot more structure to this program. All of the coordinators met weekly to discuss their team’s challenges and provide insight for each other. With 20 nurses and technicians under me, and 5 surgeons off and on to coordinate the day, this was a new challenge I was definitely up for. I was able to facilitate the start­up of the TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement) program and Robotics within the Heart Team. Working for such a high rated facility was definitely something I was proud of. However, the more and more I got into management, the more I realized I was getting away from my number one passion, the patient.

The beauty of nursing is that as much as you change in your personal life, there is always a calling in the nursing field that can mirror and nurture the path you want to take. I met the man of my dreams in August of 2012 and I am looking forward to marriage and family life. After 12 hour shifts, countless night shifts, and years of being on call, I took the position where I am now as a Valve Clinic Coordinator for the Valve Clinic/TAVR program back at my home hospital Memorial Hospital Jacksonville.

Meeting with patients and their families on a one on one basis keeps me going. I embrace the random phone calls from my patients telling me about their bowel movements and how much they appreciate my help. I am thankful to all the experiences and patients that have molded me into the confident, outgoing woman I am today. If you see me in the hospital make sure to say hello.

Erica Kirkland, RN, BSN