UW Health Careers HomeAn Interview with Adam, RN
"I get back a sense of accomplishment, a sense that I'm doing something good for people, not just for myself." - Adam, RN
Q: Adam, what do you do for a living?
A: I work as a registered nurse at UW Hospital in the Operating Room. I've been there for seven years.
A: I work as a registered nurse at UW Hospital in the Operating Room. I've been there for seven years.
Q: Tell us about working at UW Hospital.
A: I haven't practiced other places, but at UW Hospital, the acuity of the patients is much higher. We're a Level One Trauma Center, so in the Operating Room, we get level one traumas and we have to be ready to deal with that.
We have a lot of technology that other hospitals don't have and we're constantly being trained on new equipment. And it's really exciting. Every day is different. We get the sickest people in the worst shape. They're sent to UW Hospital for a reason and that reason is because we can make them better.
Q: Is your job fulfilling?
A: I get back a sense of accomplishment, a sense that I'm doing something good for people, not just for myself. I guess it's mutually beneficial. The patients are benefited and I'm benefited, too, by the feeling I get from working at UW Hospital.
Q: Are the misconceptions about males in your profession still popular?
A: People ask me if I'm a male nurse and that's kind of frustrating because I'm a nurse, I'm a male, but I'm not a male nurse. I'm a nurse. I got kidded, especially when I had to wear white pants in Nursing School. But when I tell people what I do, I think they admire it and often say, "How can you do that every day?"
Q: You must get a wide variety of situations in the Operating Room.
A: Because we are so specialized and we have so much specialty equipment, we separate into specialty teams: orthopedics, vascular, cardiac, general surgery, eyes, ears, nose, throat. Within those teams, we get to know everything through and through so that we deliver the best care we can in those specialty areas.
Q: Describe the relationship you have with your co-workers.
A: When you're on a team like ours, you get to know people's personalities and their strengths and how you can help them with their jobs, if they need help in a certain area, or how they can help you. And it's fun. We get along really well. We have fun outside of the OR. We do things together and it's really a close team.
Q: How do you approach your work day?
A: On any given day, I look for the chance to change somebody's life for the better. Hopefully what my teammates and I are doing will make that person's life better than it was when they came to us, and help them get back and do the things that they used to do. That's very rewarding - to see people that are happy with what you've done for them.
