sweet taste of success

The morning of the nursing conference (ie this morning!) dawned bright and clear. I know this because I got up early and went for a rather sluggish walk. I was a little nervous as I still hadn't completed my presentation. With minutes to spare I headed out the door with my completed spiel.

Karen and I were co-presenting, and she began with an unhurried, thoughtful precis of the value of preceptorship in nursing. I then presented the lived experience of the graduates I work with, telling the story of one graduate who benefited from preceptorship and comparing them with another graduate who received little in the way of precepting and so resigned from nursing. I concluded by asking what kind of experience do we offer?

As we brought our speech to a close the room was filled with thunderous applause and Karen and I were hoisted high on the shoulders of the audience who were caught up in the raptures of such a wonderful presentation we looked at each and silently congratulated each other on a job done well enough.

No, there was only a polite patter of applause, but overall we received an interesting response.

First, the state's principal nurse congratulated me on being so passionate about preceptorship, and said she was delighted to see someone so young contributing so much. Great. I appreciate the positive feedback but I felt a little foolish up there in front of everyone, as if I was deceiving everyone with my youthful appearance. I know I should be delighted that everyone considers me a babe in arms, but please - I'm 31. A little bit of respect for the wisdom and experience I have gained!

Other people also waxed lyrical in their praise of my stories - I demonstrated leadership ,mya reflective approach shone through, why not write up the stories and publish them, and icing on the cake, the head of the school of nursing approached me and suggested that I should come and talk to her about the options of pursuing an academic career.

Caught up in the middle of this response it was all quite surreal. I only spent a couple of hurried hours preparing last night and this morning (maybe I shouldn't make that known too widely!) - the feedback seemed out of proportion to the effort!

Surreal and heady. Wow! All these people talking to me and making suggestions and offers and... maybe it's not so bad being considered young after all. The golden haired child? (I always was jealous of my baby brother being the golden haired child of the family - he could do no wrong. Til he hit adolescence)

Whatever, I lapped up the honour, humbly of course, and now I'm asking God what to do with it. I told the head of the school of nursing that right now I'm happy to do my best while at work, but I'm not willing to commit my life to nursing - but maybe I should consider the option a little more carefully. Is there a way that I can juggle nursing study and home life at some point in the future?

I've enjoyed the sweet taste of success for the day, but the wisest thing is probably to thank God for his help, thank others for the compliments, and move on. What really counts is not how well I speak in front of a crowd, it's how I work each day at the coal face.

So next Monday you'll find me back on the ward, plugging away, doing my bit for the graduates. I will accept a pat on the back if you consider its a job well done!