Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling –
National Nurses Week is being celebrated from May 6 through May 12. This week is celebrated to recognize the contributions that nurses make to the community. We've asked the Chief Nurse at the 579th Medical Group (579 MDG) to tell us about being a nurse in the Air Force.
"For me, nursing is an art and science and I think the best nurses demonstrate elements of both. What makes a good Nurse? Compassion first, empathy, trustworthiness, resilience, a sense of humor, good nursing related skills/knowledge/ abilities and an ongoing desire to learn/evolve/be a change agent," said Lt. Col. Kelli Lorenzo, Chief Nurse for the 579 MDG.
"Focusing on nurses, my Commander, Col. Roseanne Warner is one of the finest leaders and nurses I have had the privilege to work with in my 27 year career. She "walks the talk" daily and inspires us here at the 579 MDG to do our very best. I also greatly admire Lt. Col. Mary Beth Lengyel and Maj. Kelly Gervera, two nurse colleagues who regularly demonstrate those qualities I noted above. Looking to the past, the story of Florence Nightingale is inspiring and I find Walt Whitman's poetry/letters on his service as a Civil War nurse poignant and in many ways still relevant to those caring for war wounded today," said Lt. Col. Lorenzo.
Lt. Col. Lorenzo explained she loved being a nurse because of the people.
"There is a special sense of purpose and camaraderie in being a military nurse. The ongoing opportunities for personal and professional growth, the benefits, and the adventures each new assignment brings all contribute to this being a wonderful choice for a career," said Lt. Col. Lorenzo.
She explained she learned a new perspective on what is really important in life from a young Marine she cared for who was transiting through the Aeromedical Staging Facility (ASF) at Joint Base Andrews when she worked there in 2004.
"In Nov 2004, during the second battle of Fallujah, he was part of a team ordered to secure a building known to harbor insurgents. While headed to the second floor, he heard a clunk-clunk-clunk on the stairs -- a grenade, which left him with severe abdominal and lower extremity shrapnel wounds. When he arrived in the ASF he had several tubes and lines. His follow-on mission was delayed and in the couple of days he stayed with us, I had the opportunity to hear the full story of how he was injured. "After I was hit, one of my team members I had often fussed and feuded with threw me over his shoulder and got me out of that building to safety." I remarked how the pain must have been excruciating, but what this young Marine recalled with tears was, "My main thought was how he put himself in danger to save me..." During his stay, we got orders to remove his tubes and lines. "Ma'am, you're going to put me out for that, aren't you?" I assured him they were easier coming out than going in, and that he could remove a couple himself if he'd like. "Oh hell no Ma'am.." Hmmm...smiling to myself remembering the occassional use of expletives, but always with military courtesies. After his tubes were removed and he was tolerating fluids, I asked if there was anything in particular he would like. "Ma'am, I'd love a vanilla milkshake -- I haven't had a milkshake in a year." To this day, I still feel emotional recalling with what relish he drank that milkshake -- like it was a 5-course gourmet meal! Prior to his departure, he told he had learned his picture was going to be in a national magazine the following week. I went out and bought a copy. The picture: My wounded young patient slung over the shoulder of his fellow Marine, carrying him to safety. What I learned from this young man and the 15K wounded that passed through the ASF doors during my time there: perspective on what is really important in life and to not take for granted all the simple pleasures we enjoy in this country every day," explained Lt. Col. Lorenzo.