Why Am I a Paulinian?

I enrolled at St Paul College of Iloilo just to appease my mother, as it was her lifelong dream for me to become a nurse. Little did she know that I was hatching a selfish plan. I was going to flunk all of my subjects during the first term, tell her that I tried my best, and say that maybe nursing is not for me. Until one day in Chemistry, that is…

Did I tell you that I was a scholar in college because I graduated valedictorian from high school? Well, that one day, our Chemistry professor asked those who finished high school with honors to stand up and be recognized. Upon seeing me stand up, one of my classmates asked me where I graduated from.

Although I shouldn’t have been, I was insecure about the fact that I graduated from a trade school in a rural area. I sincerely felt that I really didn’t belong in the storied halls of St. Paul during the first few days. I was like a very small fish in a very big pond full of distinguished classmates from prestigious private schools in the city.

That should have been my convenient excuse, right?

Wrong!

Something inside of me was challenged to prove my worth. I forgot for a moment about my hope to be hobnobbing with the creme de la creme in UP. Instead, I made a self-issued marching order of surviving and swimming along with the rest of the class in this big pond.

And the rest is history, so they say…

My Years in St. Paul

Aside from the usual subjects: sciences, Math, English, etc., we had theology classes. They were an integral part of our core development because SPCI is first and foremost a Catholic institution. It is a part of a university system under the care of the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres (SPC).

We also had our Gracious Living subjects wherein we learned etiquette, socialization, and how to be well-rounded people. Social sciences, philosophy, and art classes were also part of the curriculum. We had a summer class dedicated to learning how to type. We even had several education units to prepare us to become teachers, one way or the other.

Nursing Education

 Our nursing classes were never walks in the park. They were very challenging, to say the least. Our clinical instructors were treasure troves of knowledge. They were impeccable during clinicals. So much so that I desired to be one of them someday. 

Speaking of clinicals. We were hands-on from day one. I remember my very first patient in Nursing 102 as if it was yesterday. He was a grandpa in his 60s. He had a nasal cannula, a chest tube, a nasogastric tube (NGT), and a foley catheter.

My classmates were checking vital signs, while I was administering enteral feeding. I didn’t know what was I auscultating when I first checked his NGT. Being scared at that moment was for sure an understatement. I thought I was going to quit nursing school that very day! JOMApatay anyone? (JOMA is the name of the ward. This loosely means that anyone working in that ward may feel like dying.) 

Thankfully, I survived that day and every day thereafter. Our responsibilities increased as we progressed in nursing school. During our senior year, we basically were running the units by ourselves. Our instructors and the staff were our resources, but we ran the show.

Another highlight was when we were doing our Community Health Nursing (CHN). We conducted medical outreach on the outskirts of the city and in rural areas. Summer before our senior year, we even had a six-week immersion in a far-flung barangay. We assessed the needs of the community. Lying in clinics were manned by student nurses wherein we delivered babies as midwives did. We even had medical missions and mass vaccinations for children.

Dorm Life

For the most part during those four years, I stayed in the dormitory. My fellow dormites (the name we call ourselves) and I adhered to the strict ways of the nuns. Lights out and prayer times were implemented uncompromisingly. We learned to efficiently manage time because we only had a few shared bathroom stalls. Whoever got there first meant she was not going to be late for her first class of the day.

Staying in the dorm was very convenient. This was especially true when we had to be gathered in the lobby for our morning prayers at 0630H. Once our hospital shift was over, we ran back to the dorm for a quick uniform change. Then, on to our minor subjects until 1700H.

The girls in the dorm helped each other. We usually ask for input from our seniors who stayed on a different floor. Our batchmates were like sisters in the real sense of the word. We loved each other. And, yes, we did fight as sisters do. Nevertheless, all those experiences prepared us to become true-blue Paulinian nurses.

A Rare Breed that is The Paulinian Nurse

Every Paulinian is well aware that the tenets of our learning are skills, knowledge, and attitude. The foundational knowledge we were taught was current and evidence-based. The seemingly millions of hours spent on “duty” during our related learning experiences equipped us with incomparable world-class skills. Above all, competence, compassion, mutual respect, persistence and resilience, and the provision of genuine care were ingrained within us. Even as students back then, we completely understood that nursing, more than just a profitable profession, is a calling, a sacred vocation. 

Treating everyone with dignity and respect became second nature to us thanks to our Christ-centered education. We never consider our patients as disease entities. Rather, we care for them as holistic beings who have complicated and complex needs. We believe that we have to address every aspect of their person be it physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, etc. Our goal is to provide quality, safe, and person-centered care each and every single time.

Ethical Dilemmas

This has been easy to live out for the most part. Admittedly though, I have encountered experiences wherein my beliefs, morals, and faith have been challenged.

I have taken care of a cancer patient whose husband wanted me to give her Morphine to “just end it all.” I encountered a 12-year-old boy who was taking hormone treatments to transition into becoming a girl. There was also a transman who just delivered a baby. Finally, I spent hours listening to a mom who was counseled to abort her baby born at 27 weeks with multiple anomalies.

In each of those, I turned to prayers that ended with WWJD, “what would Jesus do?”

Cultural Assimilation

The challenges didn’t end there. Adjusting to colleagues from different backgrounds was not easy at first. They considered our accent as funny. Our experiences were perceived as mediocre because we came from a third-world country with a less-than-stellar healthcare system. Inasmuch as we are known the world over as dedicated healthcare professionals, we still feel discriminated against. While people don’t outrightly call it racism, they have a pet term for it: “micro-aggression!”

Nevertheless, our Catholic background mandates us to recognize the image and likeness of Christ in everyone. We continue to thrive – no, not necessarily take these insults sitting down. Instead, we are to gently correct those misperceptions through our words, actions, and deeds.

These common misconceptions empower us to always prove our worth! While we may not all be in formal leadership positions, we strive to always better ourselves. We even lead in our own simple ways via quality improvement committees, shared governance, research, and innovative initiatives. These extra-curricular responsibilities provide us with opportunities to grow both personally and professionally. Thus, we continue learning through advanced education or by attending conferences.

Paying It Forward

As Paulinians, we don’t only benefit from those learnings ourselves. We truly feel that we owe it to the next generation of nurses to impart our own knowledge and experiences. We want them to feel that they are as well-equipped as we were, once they start their respective careers. 

Maybe, it was due to this innate motivation to share that I ended up in my current role – that of a Clinical Informaticist (CI)! Well, this CI job is way different than my Clinical Instructor role of yesteryears.

In a nutshell, an informaticist helps organizations to appropriately apply information technology in healthcare. As an example, my graduate school capstone project was to ensure that when I scan a baby’s breast milk bottle, the scanner will confirm that I am giving it to the correct baby. It can also tell me if the milk is good to administer or if it’s already expired. It may sound a little bit Sci-Fi, but this is the future of healthcare!

No Longer a Nurse?

Nowadays, people are asking me: “so you don’t want to be a nurse anymore?”

For whatever reason, we have a stereotype that the only legitimate nurses are those working in the front lines.

I love my bedside jobs, most days anyway. However, we know that there are all kinds of nurses – educators, executives, researchers, innovators, etc. That is another thing that I appreciate from our formation – the fact that the SPC sisters and all our mentors have adequately prepared us to be competent in various nursing fields.

As Paulinian nurses, we continuously aim to be our ultimate best! Albeit all the situations that we face daily in our professional lives, we remain steadfast. In works and in deeds, we want to exemplify that we are truly the sons and daughters of St. Paul. And yes, we have come to listen to his call!