Nursing a Profession

Donna Cardillo, MA, RN

Nursing is my profession and my life’s work. I have had various employment/self-employment positions over the years since becoming a nurse. But regardless of what title I had at any given time, and whether directly or indirectly working with consumers of healthcare (and we are all consumers of healthcare) I have always been working within the profession of nursing. In each role I had the same mission, ideals, and ethical and practice standards, while being aware of my role and responsibility as a healthcare expert (every nurse is a healthcare expert in his or her own way) and provider of care in a very broad sense. Today, as a nurse entrepreneur, when people ask me what I do, I say, “I am a self-employed registered nurse who spends her time speaking and a writing. You might say I heal with words.”

I am proud to be a member of the nursing profession for 35 years. I don’t want to discuss the issue anymore, I don’t want to debate or dispute it. I just want to keep on living it—to the best of my ability—always striving to raise the standards of my own practice and my profession as a whole for hopefully another 35 years…or more.

Donna Wilk Cardillo is the Career Guru for Nurses and “Dear Donna” columnist for Nursing Spectrum, NurseWeek, and Donna is also an ‘Expert’ Blogger at DoctorOz.com. She is author of The ULTIMATE Career Guide for Nurses, Your 1st Year as a Nurse, and A Daybook for Beginning Nurses. Ms. Cardillo is creator of the Career Alternatives for Nurses® seminar and home-study program. You can reach her at www.dcardillo.com.

Florence Nightingale OM, RRC ( /ˈflɒrəns ˈnaɪtɨŋɡeɪl/; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...

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