As 2020 has been declared Year of the Nurse by the World Health Organization, we would like to take this time to focus on our great nursing staff. They are arguably the most important people in the organization, whether they think so or not. We appreciate the sacrifices they make to take care of us and our loved ones. From working nights and holidays, to being on call and making home visits- they do it all with integrity and courage. They are selfless, caring, innovative, fierce, and much more than we have time to describe. So, nurses, thank you. You do what others cannot, we appreciate you.
With that, BBGH would like to share with you, our community, a little bit more about our nurses. Who they are and why they do what they do.
Meet Ashley Peterson LPN (licensed practical nurse). Ashley is originally from Alliance and has lived here her whole life. After working in a nursing home for 12 years, Ashley completed her schooling to become an LPN at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff. She realized that although she loved the nursing home, she wanted a different scene. “Growing up I always wanted to be a teacher; then in high school I did the cadet program, and my mom is a nurse, so when I went to the nursing home I thought, ‘I want to be a nurse’,” Ashley said. She has worked in the Michael F. Essay Specialty Clinic for over two years now, and says she loves it. “The fact that I get to help people who really need help, in their time of need, and meeting a variety of people and getting to know their story and their life- I really enjoy it.”
Florence Nightingale, popularly known as the ‘founder of modern nursing’ mentioned in her personal diary in the 1870s, “It will be 150 years to see the kind of nursing I envision.” We hope to continue her vision, 150 years later and 150 years from now. Ashley would like to see nursing stay ‘on a personal level with the patient, identify with them so they can feel comfortable,’ and also ‘getting patient prescriptions all on the same page since we have good technology.’
When she’s not taking care of patients, Ashley enjoys camping with her family, fishing, spending time with her sons, and watching them play baseball.
As 2020 continues, keep your nurses in mind. They have families, hobbies, and feelings just like the rest of us. The main difference is they are courageous enough to do what we cannot, or choose not, to do.
Caption for attached photo: Multispecialty Clinic nurse Ashley Peterson LPN, at Box Butte General Hospital.