I Am TNA
by Keesha Reid, MSN, RN, FNP-C
I can remember when I told my family I was pursuing a new career in nursing, they laughed!
My family members’ memories of me and nurses are quite comical. It was time for my immunizations in 1974, I was age 4 at that time. My mother, a nurse, and I were in this tiny room. I repeatedly asked the nurse, “Am I gonna get a shot? You better not give me a shot.” She or my mother never affirmed the reason for my visit. I can remember sweating bullets and feeling some serious anxiety. But, I managed to slip pass the nurse and my mother, into the waiting room, out of the clinic and running down the street.
Oh, the security guard caught me! This “nice” man carried me back to the “nice” nurse’s office, where it took about four people to hold me down for my immunizations. As I was leaving, with my tears, I turned to the nurse and told her, “When I grow up, I will become a nurse, and I’m gonna give you a shot!” I never thought about these words until 20 years later.
After graduating from high school, I attended Middle Tennessee State University with a major in Finance. I graduated in 1992 and worked in my concentrated area, but never felt I was in the right space. One of my best friends was a nurse and I was always fascinated with her patients’ stories. I would think about the idea of becoming a nurse, but then I also thought I could not overcome my strong phobia of needles. So, it took me about two years to convince myself to at least “try” nursing as a career.
After researching the different avenues of becoming a part of the nursing profession, I decided the best economical means for me at that time to achieve a nursing career was the LPN route. I graduated from the LPN program at Metro-Nashville General Hospital in 1995.
After working in various areas as an LPN, I soon realized I should go back to school to attain a degree in nursing. After blood, sweat, tears, and raising my son, I graduated from the LPN-to-RN program at Tennessee State University in 2002. Two years later, I earned my BSN. While in Nashville, I worked at Saint Thomas Hospital on their CHF unit and ED as well as an outpatient surgery center.
During this time, when someone would approach me about becoming a member of TNA, my reply was, “I’m too busy.”
My son and I moved to Jackson, Tenn., to be closer to family. I obtained an adult ICU staff position, then later in the PICU at LeBonheur in Memphis. I again realized it was time to go back to school. During the time I was working on my MSN from Saint Louis University, there was a heated debate on a piece of legislation about Advanced Practice Nurses writing pain management scripts in the state of Missouri. I was awestricken on how my professors handled the politicians and an assortment of lobbyists.
I made myself available, no longer too busy, to advocate for my profession. I have been a member of TNA for almost two years. I attended the TNA Annual Convention in Chattanooga this past year and was elected TNA Secretary and an ANA/TNA delegate. Also last year, I attended the first American Nurses Advocacy Institute (ANAI) in Washington D.C. ANAI is a mentoring program, revealing the how-tos on advocating for our profession and learning the political language.
I am now an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Jackson State Community College, as well as working part-time as an APN. I have taken the opportunities to work with various community and political organizations and communicate how changes in the nursing profession will affect their lives–especially, when there are pieces of legislations introduced to sunset the Board of Nursing or when someone wants to challenge the definition of an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN). These are the reasons I Am TNA…because I am committed to our profession and my calling, which is not a laughing matter.
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