My Journey on Becoming a Nurse: Contribution to the Nursing Profession

By Verlia M. Brown

The purpose of this book is to chronicle my life's journey from birth
to achieving my goal to be a registered nurse. People, in general,
take different pathways to fulfill their professional dreams. My
pathway took long and winding roads, hills and valleys. My intention
is to inspire, motivate and encourage people across the spectrum,
that they should pursue their dreams and never give up. In-so-doing,
there might be many obstacles and struggles along the way, but with
strength and determination, and help from the community of people
around you, you goal can be achieved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 7, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483677811

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by Verlia M. Brown, MA, RN, BC.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013913800

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4836-7780-4

Softcover 978-1-4836-7779-8

Ebook 978-1-4836-7781-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 10/01/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

136456

To my Howard.

In memory of my great-grandmother, Adlin Boswell;

my grandmother, Bernice McCarthy Brown.

To all the nurses in the world.

My goal in this book is to record my life’s history as a nurse so others can get some encouragement. People get a lot of stress when they are trying to achieve their potentials and to be what they want to become. If there are many obstacles in their way, they might give up and won’t pursue their dreams. My goal is to encourage people not to give up, even though they might be confronted with many obstacles. In addition, I want to encourage individuals such as nurses to do the very best they can for their patients. Nurses are in a noble profession, and I wish for them to get some form of inspiration. If I could become a nurse and a leader, others might have the potential to do the same as well. I believe they just need to see someone else ahead achieve her or his dreams to get inspired. I hope that nurses who read my book will say: Well, she didn’t have it easy. If she can do this, maybe I can also achieve my dreams as well.

I want to let all concerned know that nurses are the backbone of the health-care delivery system. We must control our practice and all aspects of the nursing profession. As educators, it is imperative that we educate the public about the role of nurses and nursing. We should not let politicians, legislators, administrators, and other none-nursing professionals speak for us. We must become more active in the political arena by running for political offices, thus enhancing our speaking power and clout. Nurse leaders must develop policies and examine regulations that affect the practice of nursing.

Nurses as the primary and essential caregivers must advocate for quality patient care for all people. Thus said, nurses should be prepared at the highest educational level because technology is forever changing, people are getting sicker, and evidence-based information is focusing on a broader array of practice issues, education, and prevention. New nurses entering the workforce must be mentored so that they can deliver humane, high-quality nursing care and be encouraged to sustain high nursing standards. Nurses should network with other professional and allied health-care workers to promote nursing’s agenda. Nurse researchers must continue to write tools and evaluate nursing care comes for the betterment of all, especially nurses and their patients.

Proactively, nurses must work for the enrichment of themselves and their colleagues and set examples for others to follow. Yes, proactively we can, so nurses go for it. Good luck!

I also wish to educate new and older nurses alike with the experiences I’ve gained over the past thirty-eight years as a critical care nurse. One thing for sure, nurses must exercise their rights to passage as patient-care advocates. I remember those days when I was called a big mouth, but I still advocated for patients, nurses, visitors, and anyone else who needed help, even the ones who labeled me. Go figure. Nurses should never be afraid to be advocates because people will respect them for that.

I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. My great-grandmother, who was from my grandmother’s side of the family, always said to me, You were born under the clock. I was born at Victoria Jubilee Hospital. This is a hospital where pregnant women went to have babies. There was a clock in front of the hospital. I believe it is still there to this day. I have an older sister and a younger brother—he died several years ago from injuries sustained from a motor vehicle accident. I was the middle child. I had other siblings from my father, but from my parents, it was just my sister, my brother, and I.

In 1949, my mother succumbed to a fever. I was about two years old. My paternal grandfather always talked about my mother. No one could replace her. He used to say, There is no one like Syl! My mom’s name was Sylvia, but they all called her Syl. My grandparents would tell me, You looked just like Syl. When I was approaching the age she died, I almost went nuts because I thought I was going to die at that age too. I vaguely remember my mother. I wish I’d known my mother. I was just a little child when she died. I have been thinking about her a lot. I have no clue what she looked like or know anything about her. Unfortunately, I have no photographs of my mother. My grandparents raised me, and my father lived with us, but it’s hard when you don’t know what a mother’s love is all about. I do miss her maybe because I have gotten older and more matured.

Cherish your parents, especially your mom, because you never know. It’s no one’s fault; that’s just how it’s supposed to be, I guess. When I was growing up, I never thought about my mother’s life, but a couple of years ago, I began regretting not doing an investigation or research about her. In 2010, I drove through Pepper, Saint Elizabeth, the town where my mother was born, but never stopped. Being older and wiser, I am contemplating returning one day to find my mother’s side of her family. I once did a course in college about physical anthropology so I will know what to do.

After the death of my mother, I was told by my paternal grandmother that my mother’s mother wanted us to live with her in Pepper, Saint Elizabeth, but my father’s mother wanted us. There was a quarrel, and at the end of the day, my siblings and I got to live with my father’s mother. Up until her death, that was many years ago, we would call her Ms. Brown. Hold on to your seats. I don’t know how this happened, but my paternal great-grandmother took me to live with her. It was a place called Constitution