Almost There...

written by Kaitlyn Yule ('10)...Nursing major from Raleigh, North Carolina

I am a junior nursing student and a varsity women's soccer team member. My life is pretty much consumed by my major and my sport. I spend sixteen hours a week performing hands-on clinicals at MetroHealth Hospital in downtown Cleveland, and that's simply a required addition to the thirteen hours of classes I attend weekly.

But, despite the often chaotic schedule, I could not see myself doing anything else. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be right smack dab in the middle of an inner city level one trauma center dealing with emergency situations, life or death decisions, and gathering one of a kind life experiences which translate into jaw dropping stories. These past couple of weeks in clinicals has been a little more extraordinary than the usual...with three births, an emergency cesarean section to deliver a dying baby, and the not so everyday occurrence of saving my four month old patient from choking to death.

This Wednesday I had more than I could have asked for while shadowing in the emergency department of MetroHealth, an eighty-one bed unit with eight trauma bays, its very own psych department, and a one of a kind life flight division that provides services to the entire state of Ohio. I was finally where I have always envisioned and where I have worked so hard to be. As the first trauma of the day was life flighted in, the staff prepared for her arrival. The patient was a middle-aged woman who had been struck by two separate vehicles. She had numerous fractures, no pulse in either of her legs, and internal bleeding. Here it was right in front of me, my first trauma and it all happened so quickly. It was organized chaos of doctors and nurses, yelling orders and status updates, frantically trying to find the answer to save this woman's life. Before I knew it she was stabilized and transferred to radiology to have a CT scan to try and find where her massive internal hermorrhage was located. All that's left after a situation such as this is a mess of a room and a collection of emotions that leave you in complete awe of what just happened. The adrenaline that comes from any emergency situation is indescribable.

As a nursing student, I still have so far to go before I get to the day where I'm the nurse working that trauma, but I can finally see that the end is in sight. I have just over a year left and I have worked so hard and sacrificed so much. There is no longer a doubt in my mind that I am doing the right thing. These past few years have been hard, with sleepless nights and days where I've just wanted to give up, but it's all about to pay off. I'm in the final stretch now and can't wait to finally reach the long awaited finish line.

There is another passion in my life that has absolutely nothing to do with sick people, traumatic injuries, or nursing in general. I have played soccer my entire life, never with an end in sight. But it has finally hit me that I have only one season left to play competitively. This fall marks the beginning of the end of something I have known and taken for granted my entire life. We have begun our spring season practices and it has only heightened my awareness that I'm going to be a senior next year. Going into this final season I have such high expectations for myself, and I feel this is my last chance to help the team achieve what I know capable. I have seen not only the team change, but I have also witnessed the entire program completely evolve. The caliber of each individual player is unlike anything we have had in the past years I have been here at Case. A large part of this transformation comes from our current freshmen and sophomore classes. Our freshmen class this year is remarkable. They have so much dedication and work so hard to raise not only their personal level of play but also the team's level. I have this one final season left before I hang up the jersey, but I can truly say I wouldn't want to play my last season with any other group of girls. I'm excited and nervous to begin this final season and also a little jealous knowing that this is the end for me but not for them. The dedication, leadership, intelligence, and athleticism of the girls in the classes below me will impact Case Women's soccer for years. I am jealous that I will not be a part of the future of this team, which I have no doubt consists of conference championships and multiple trips to the NCAA tournament. At the same time, I am proud to say that I am here in the midst of it, that I have a hand in what will some day be known as the powerhouse women's soccer program at Case Western Reserve University.