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 Mariah Bell. Mariah is a Certified Clinical Hemodialysis Technician (CCHT) in the BBGH Dialysis Unit. She was raised in the panhandle of Nebraska, graduated from Alliance High School, and returned to Alliance after spending a year in Louisiana. “I was very fortunate to secure my position as a CCHT here at BBGH,” she said.
Mariah said, “My mother was a nurse so I was always drawn to the medical field. She always made me proud. My father was a dialysis patient for 10+ years, so I have a special respect for my patients, and it comforts me knowing I can help people the way so many helped my father.” She added, “I enjoy my job because I want all my patients to know they are cared for and they are important, not just to me, but to my coworkers too.”
When Mariah has some free time, she enjoys using the right side of her brain (commonly know for creativity) by writing, reading, painting, and drawing. She is also currently taking online coding courses, and plans to attend a nursing program soon.
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. Mariah said, “I would like to see more advances in the way our healthcare system works, with either new treatments or technological advances. I would also like to see new ways to treat pain, be it long-term or short-term.”
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.
