The first night of my senior preceptorship I was extremely nervous to walk through the doors of the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit at Emory University Hospital Midtown. I was very nervous for multiple reasons. This was my first time working in an ICU. It was Neuro ICU and it was my first night shift. Once I met my preceptor for the next eight weeks, my nerves were all eased. Sheila Taylor welcomed me with open arms and we hit the ground running.
I learned more in the short eight weeks with Sheila than I ever expected. Not only did she show me the essential characteristics and expectations of an intensive care nurse, but also shared with me her compassion and love for nursing for many years. My preceptor went way out of her way to help me learn what it means to be an intensive care nurse. Sheila walked through the unit doors with a meaningful smile on her face and is always ready to take on challenges during her shift. She loves to teach new nurses all of their clinical skills and knowledge. I am extremely proud to call Sheila my first preceptor and now coworker.
Caring is one of Sheila's biggest traits. In getting to know each other during our eight weeks, I had mentioned that our school at the time did not have a pinning ceremony as part of graduation. Sheila was so shocked and jokingly said to me, "That's not right, I'm sure that you will get pinned". I was working the second to last night with Sheila and some of my co-workers gave me a piece of paper with a note to go to the breakroom at midnight. I looked around and there was no one around. I walked into the break room and the lights were off. I turned the corner, and everyone was there waiting for me. Sheila had set up a pinning ceremony in our breakroom, complete with candles, music, sweets, and a framed narrative of what it means to be a nurse. She gave a touching speech and gave me my very own "Future CCRN' pin. I was moved by all that Sheila had done to make me feel loved and appreciated. To this day, I look back on that memory and I am so thankful for Sheila.
This hard-working, compassionate, kind, and warm-hearted nurse deserves recognition for all she does for her patients, families, and co-workers.