The I.V. Leaguers: A Revealing Look at Life as a Nurse

By Amanda Debons

Lindsay Mays never thought she would be a nurse. She was convinced that she was going to pursue a criminal justice degree, until she took some time off of school at Michigan State University to figure out what she really wanted to do. After a year of self reflecting in Florida and having no clear ideas for a career path, Mays moved back to Michigan, where her mother, a nurse herself, mentioned the hospital she worked at was hiring nursing assistants and suggested Mays try it.

“After my first day at the hospital, I knew that nursing is what I was born to do,” Mays said. “The pull felt so strong, I could not deny it.”

Now Mays, 28, works in the Progressive Care Unit at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Ariz.

Mays works 12 hour shifts and generally attends to four patients each day. Her day begins when she receives a report from the night nurse, which helps her organize each patient’s medication times, treatments and scheduled testing for the day. She prints their heart rhythms and, if ordered by the patient, their blood sugars and treats with insulin.

Throughout the day, Mays administers medication, a head-to-toe assessment of her patients and hourly patient checks. Toward the end of the day, she empties catheters and tubes, charts the information and reports off to the night-shift nurse.

To Mays, the challenge of being a nurse is learning time management without sacrificing the best possible care for the patient.

“I don’t like how little time I get to spend with my patients,” she said. “I went to nursing school and was taught to be patient and was not necessarily taught the time management piece.”

Mays says she loves many things about being a nurse, such as the feeling she gets when she is truly able to help a patient or a patient’s family member, the respect she gets from her community and constantly using her critical thinking skills.

“I am amazed some days that I actually get paid to have a career that I find so fun and intriguing,” she said.