I remember the first day I met Joyce Boggs. My first day on the job, actually. The unit was busy, and she was in charge. She was calmly delegating assignments to the other dayshift nurses and preparing for the day. After that morning, she introduced herself and told me she would be my preceptor. She quickly took me under her wing like a mother hen.
Each day that passed, Joyce would teach me something new. I would go home each night and wonder how I would ever be able to know everything that she did and couldn't imagine in six short months being off on my own to care for these labor patients. Joyce would always remind me that every nurse and every doctor had their first day. That the skills they now possessed were not acquired overnight. She helped me slowly gain confidence in myself. She taught me to never be too relaxed and to appreciate those slow moments. Because in a matter of minutes the census could go from nothing to full capacity.
Joyce taught me that when you are on call, you treat it as if you are going in until that shift comes to a complete end. Reminding you that there is no reason to be angry or to feel sorry for yourself when those hours are just as mandatory as your scheduled shifts. Now every time I'm on call I think of Joyce. When my phone rings and I'm called out, I graciously get in my car, drive to work, and start my shift. No questions asked.
We live in a time where we fend for ourselves, but the day that Joyce stood up for me as a new nurse I realized the type of heart she has. New nurses need to be lifted up and supported and I can honestly say that Joyce is the reason I stuck through those six hard months of orientation and the long first year on my own. She's always just a message away and knows exactly what to say to help you through whatever problem you are dealing with.