Dana Laura Sahadeo

Having once been a patient in an unfortunate situation, together with my admiration for nurses' hard work and dedication, I became passionate about nursing. Four years ago, I was rushed to the ER after complaining of severe abdominal pain. I waited patiently to be seen. After five hours of excruciating pain, I was finally called by a nurse and taken into a room. I was told that my file had gotten lost at the registration area. While waiting for another hour, tears trickled down the sides of my cheeks. I asked myself, "Is this how patients are treated?" It seemed as though I had to pass a 'suffering threshold' to be served. At this time, I began to shiver and the nurse returned to the room. She exclaimed to a doctor that I needed immediate care after assessing me. Finally, I received morphine after which I was scheduled for an abdominal sonogram. While waiting for this test, I felt light-headed and I also could not muster the strength to explain my situation. It took a bleeding patient, handcuffed to a hospital bed to alert another nurse that I was on the verge of collapsing. She quickly pulled a stretcher in front of me and helped me to get into a lying position.

After 13 hours of ER treatment, I felt as if the grueling experience has primed me even further to be a nurse. I learned that by sharing in patients most helpless moments, nurses had tremendous power to make a difference in their lives. In doing so, they can discover their own strengths and weaknesses. For me, it was great having helpful nurses. However, I wished my nurse would have realized the severity of my illness and advocated for me earlier by paying closer attention to me. After all, nurses are the biggest advocates for their patients. This unpleasant experience filled me with unalterable determination to meet the needs of patients to the best of my ability.

After being accepted into Stony Brook University's School of Nursing and receiving the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation scholarship, I knew that nursing was my calling. The RWJ Foundation provided me with a fantastic opportunity to obtain a nursing education, to be a future leader of the profession and to view challenges as opportunities for learning. Till this day, I am extremely fortunate to be guided and supported by my scholarship mentor, Dr. Lori Escallier who represents every aspect of an outstanding nurse and leader. Through good work ethics, knowledge, devotion and my background in research, there is so much I can offer to the nursing profession. I believe that nursing encompasses a holistic understanding of the psyche and needs of the patient and his situation to which any nurse must immerse himself/herself into in order to provide the best possible treatment.