Anastacia DelMonte, CRN, Central Dialysis Unit, Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, MB
“When did I become a nurse? January 1989. I always wanted it. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I came here to Canada in 1980 and right away I wanted to be a nurse. I was 17 when I came, with my dad.”
Highlight of the job?: “Direct patient care. I will always be a bedside nurse though right now I am a clinical resource nurse. But I like that I have still have option to be at the bedside but also have a leadership role.”
Challenges: “Right now in dialysis, we don’t have enough beds for dialysis patients.”
Impacting experience: “When I first started here there was this lady at Sherbrook [dialysis unit]. I got really close to her because she was so pleasant. And then on report one day, I found out she died. I couldn’t hold myself, I ran to the bathroom and I just cried. From that moment on I learned I had to protect myself emotionally as well. Not to be callous or insensitive in building relationships with clients but in terms of when they die. That was hard. Even now. I felt that I had to, to be an efficient nurse – to be an effective nurse. You still have to have that feeling for people but at the same time it’s kind of hard. It’s a very fine line I find.”