When I began to think about how nursing is an art, the first thing I thought about was how it’s always changing and how we, as nurses, can remold ourselves as nurses multiple times throughout our career. I wanted to pick something that is also always changing. So, I decided to pick a picture of the ocean. The ocean can be cold, warm, calm, crazy, no waves, small waves, and changes colors by day or season. The nursing field is like the ocean because every unit, shift, and nurse themselves are different. Living in Maine, we often see the ocean change in seasons. As nurses, we can reinvent ourselves every few years if we wanted to. Nursing as a field is always changing as well. Although we hold some of the same values that Nightingale put in place a few hundred years ago, how nurses practice changes very often. Right now I have no idea as to what field I want to go into but it’s comforting knowing how flexible this career is. Like the ocean, as a nurse, I can experience many changes.
Great analogy and beautiful picture. You can and probably will experience many changes as a nurse, both in where/how you practice, but also in the changing needs of the patients. Indeed, ‘change’ is a constant in nursing. Like the ocean, we can also experience pollution that may threaten the beauty of what we hold dear, but we have the power to change it for the better by advocating for ourselves and our patients. Nice work!
Hi Madison! Great post, I like how you compare changes in nursing to the changes of the ocean. I agree so much has changed in nursing however we still hold true to the fundamentals that Florence Nightingale set 100 years ago!
Thanks for commenting corrine. The ocean is old as time and has both new, old, and forever changing aspects of it!
Madison,
I love what you have written! Such a powerful comparison. The fact that every day is different in the nursing field and that the possibilities are endless much like the ocean, is one of the reasons that attracted me to nursing. I think the ocean represents the joy and highs of being a nurse when it is beautiful, sunny, and calm and on days when the waves are crashing and it is windy and cold, that represents the challenging days of being a nurse. The days when the ocean is rough make you appreciate the days when it is calm that much more. I think that even on the toughest days, the good days will outweigh the challenging ones. How lucky are we to pursue a career that is so rewarding and one where we have the ability to keep learning and the possibility to reinvent ourselves multiple different times?
Thanks for commenting Allison! I really like how you mentioned, “the days when the ocean is rough makes you appreciate the days when it is calm”. We will most certainly have our rough days in this career but the good days will be what makes it all worth it.