My name is Jill Henderson and I have been an RN for 37 years. I live in Jacksonville, Forida and work as a Nurse Educator at Mayo Clinic Florida in the Mayo Clinic Hospital. I have been a CCU nurse, a floor nurse, a school nurse, a college instructor and finally a clinical educator. My nursing career started in a delivery room when I was sixteen.
A friend’s father was a General Practitioner in the small town where I lived. He invited me and his daughter to watch a delivery at the local hospital after our shift as candystripers was finished. Gowned and masked, we stood in a corner of the delivery room while a woman struggled soundlessly to deliver a footling breach child. My eyes were glued to a nameless nurse who anticipated and assisted the doctor’s every need. That moment of birth was truly miraculous, especially considering the lengthy effort involved.
As the woman and her child were wheeled out, another screaming woman was wheeled in for what turned out to be a noisy but uncomplicated delivery. Again the nameless nurse, hidden behind her mask, was an integral part of a life process. I knew then that I wanted to be that nurse, in some way, shape or form.
Now, in my own way, I am.