A Nurse’s Calling

There are more the 29 million nurses in the world and approximately 4 million in the United States…and it’s not enough.  The American Nurse Association projects that over the next 4 years there will be more available positions in nursing than in any other profession.  Mark Petrole, RN is an outpatient nurse at a clinic that services mainly low income and underinsured patients.  In describing the multiple roles he plays, Mark says “I’m like a case manager, a nurse, their own personal pharmacist” as well as a provider of emotional and logistical support.     Mark feels that nursing is a calling; a wide and varied profession with specialties for caregivers of all backgrounds.  May 6-12 is National Nurses Week and Mark urges us to ‘thank a nurse’ and be appreciative of the many services they provide even when it means skipping lunch or holding their bladder for an extra few hours.