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 Jessica Hansen. A Nebraska-born girl, Jessica grew up in Loup City. She joined the U.S. Army Reserves and was deployed to Iraq during her time in the Army. After coming home, she decided to focus on her schooling to become a nurse and settle down on a farm/ranch in Hemingford, Nebraska.
Jessica knew she wanted to become a nurse after working as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at the nursing home in Loup City. “I loved taking care of the residents there, and just knew in my heart that I should do something that involves taking care of people,” she said. Jessica has worked in the Box Butte General Hospital Surgery department for almost four years now. She said, “I get to meet so many different people and talk with them prior to surgery. I always hope that by sitting down and conversing with patients, I’m calming their fears for surgery. For anyone that knows me, I’m a talker. I feel that talking with the patients prior to surgery and getting to know them helps make them feel more comfortable with the whole process. Surgery is scary- and if I can calm their nerves by chatting, I will do just that.”
When Jessica isn’t taking care of her surgery patients, you can find her spending time with her husband and three children. She also enjoys gardening and canning in the summer, traveling to see her family in central Nebraska, and is an avid Husker volleyball fan.
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. Jessica said, “I would like to see us be able to do more bedside nursing. Some days it feels like we are glued to the screens of our computers and spending much less time with our patients.”
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.
