- [Narrator] In honor of National Nurses Week,
the Inside View interviewed nurses
from across the health system.
From pediatrics to home care,
we've learned that nurses are not only
an invaluable resource to patient care,
but demonstrate the Michigan difference everyday.
- [Margaret Calarco] We believe in extremely high standards
of excellence here for patient care and for nursing care.
And so, by doing that, we select, um,
the leaders and the best to join us.
There are nurses who demonstrate to us, a commitment.
First, a commitment to patients and families.
A commitment to really never-ending improvement.
Thinking about how are we going to innovate the next idea,
how are we going to improve the next process,
how are we going to improve our care.
A commitment to continuous learning and development.
Forever pushing the boundaries of care.
These are nurses here that influence not only
how nursing care is provided here in the institution,
but in the state and in the country and around the world.
- [Becky Eggelston] My name is Becky Eggelston,
and I'm a registered nurse.
I've been here since 1984,
and I am the manager for Cancer Answer Line.
We're a community service of the Cancer Center.
We offer cancer information to the public.
Any type of cancer information
that somebody might request.
We have very sophisticated callers that
maybe would have a question about
results of a clinical research study.
And then we have the basic inquiries about
signs and symptoms of cancer.
So there's such a wide range of issues
relating to cancer that you can,
you can never predict what the next call might bring.
- [Nurse] I've been a nurse for four years,
and I took care of her, probably in the summer,
fall time, after I graduated.
And I was so nervous (laughs) to take care of her.
I was nervous of the vent room in general.
Of ventilators and trachs, and I just was so nervous.
And then I saw her, and her family was so wonderful,
and she was so beautiful, and
I really fell in love with her.
With home care, you really become
an extension of the family to provide care
to the patient.
You're in their home.
They wouldn't be able to be at home
if it wasn't for the, for the nursing care that we provide.
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- [Trisha Goodridge] My name is Trisha Goodridge,
and I am a registered nurse,
and I work at the Domino's Farms Plastic Surgery Clinic.
We do a lot of phone triage,
so you kind of have to figure out
what's going on over the phone.
And, you know, we do have many sick patients here,
and another myth about my job here
in the Plastic Surgery Clinic
is that people are like, "Oh, you're in the plastics."
And you know, really here,
we take care of a lot of cancer patients.
I've worked at, in many different avenues
of the hospital and the healthcare here,
and we seem to be the main glue that seems
to kind of hold everything together.
And we are the people who spend
the most amount of time with the patients.
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(indistinct speech)
- You have profound experiences.
You are at their side during
some of the most profound moments of their life.
The birth of a child, the death of a loved one,
loss of function.
And in those moments, you work very, very hard
to help that individual and their families.
But through that work, you also appreciate
the tremendous resilience of people,
and the rewards of your career and your profession
are very apparent to you.
- In most recent years, nurses have been recognized
more than they have been in previous years.
I don't even recall celebrating Nurses Week
or Nurses Day or any of that when I first was a nurse.
It's very nice to see that,
and I know that nurses are one of
the most respected professions that there are.
It's--I, I think it's just important that people understand
what nurses do, and it's not always what's on television.
I think that there's such a broad
range of skills that are necessary to be a nurse,
and so many pathways and avenues to go with nursing,
whether it's community nursing or hospice nursing
or anesthesia nursing.
Whatever it is, there's just so many
different avenues for it.
So that's what, it's, that's what's nice about
being recognized as a nurse is
there's so much diversity in it.
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