As a young nurse, I like to think that all health care professionals think with non-maleficence permanently on the brain. However, each day, as I drive home from work, I am reminded of just how naive I can be. After my residency classes, I walk with my new friends to the parking structure, laughing and smiling all the way. I get in my car, plug in my phone, put my seat belt on, and start my car. I reverse out of my spot and proceed to join the line of cars that has built its way up the levels of the structure. As I make my way lower and lower, I watch my fellow associates allow other cars out of their spots and to join our cue. I smile to myself thinking how kind each one is for allowing someone before them. As we cross the threshold of the security gate there is a dramatic shift. These associates I momentarily regarded as thoughtful and safe become highway heathens. They run stop signs, cut each other off, ride bumper to bumper, block intersections, and cause near accidents merging onto the freeway. My jaw drops and I shake my head in disbelief, all the while trying to distance myself from any potential harm. How can people who hold the fate of young lives in their hands suddenly change mind sets so rapidly? As healthcare professionals we see patients come through our doors with horrible injuries sustained in car or motorcycle accidents. We spend so much energy educating on safety, yet such persons put these same lives we strive to protect in harm’s way. I am not saying I am a perfect driver, but I will always stop before the first white line of a crosswalk, make eye contact with pedestrians, wait until pedestrians with children make it at least halfway across the intersection, leave enough distance between myself and my fellow drivers, etc. It only takes a few of us to remember why we got into this business and to promote caring and the protection of life outside the walls of our workplace.
Preemie Donna 