The Hardest & Most Rewarding job

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By Rosabel Zohfeld, MSN-Ed, APRN, FNP-C

In my nearly 15 years in the medical field, I have done a little bit of everything; I have never found another job as hard as being a mother. I began to work in the healthcare field in 2007 as a medical receptionist, a stress tech (doing cardiac stress testing), a medical assistant (sort of), and an EMT (driving an ambulance) while going to school at night to finish my nursing degree. Finally, I graduated with a BSN in 2014; I continued to work in the same ER where I have done EMT and my nursing internship. I moved to Texas the following year, 2015, and continued to work in the emergency room; at the end of the same year, 2015, I delivered my first child. I remember how I thought I could take a sabbatical to stay home and care for my baby, but that lasted 10 days only. Somehow I found myself working as a nurse for hospice. My child was barely 6 months old, and once again, I had the need to spend more time with my child; I was working Monday-Sunday, having to do calls, and sometimes having to go in the middle of the night. So I looked for an M-F position in the post-operative department. I cross-trained in the post-anesthesia care unit and began to work in pre-op and post-op; I had to work some weekends as I traveled all over surgery centers and hospitals in the Austin, Texas, area. During that time, I finished my master of science in nursing as a clinical nurse educator. The year 2018 came, when I began my post-master degree as a family nurse practitioner. I continued to work as a PACU nurse and sometimes would work in the emergency room as needed.

May 2020 came in, and I graduated as an FNP, right in the middle of a world pandemic (COVID-19). My second child, born in January 2021, was a game-changer, for good, of course. Although, It was quite a challenge with added responsibilities as a mother of two and my husband being an active duty service member. Both of our families were/are far away, mine in South America and his in Chicago, Illinois. Oh, how can I forget those days when my first child was sick, and I couldn't find anyone to help me care for him while I went to work. One time I had no other choice than leave work. What else could I have done? I am a nurse, but first a mother. 

Being a nurse is easy compared to being a stay-at-home mom/wife and caring for two little ones, even if just one or four or five of them. The running around, the laundry, washing bottles, feeding... my point is, being a mother is a gratifying job that no money cant pay. In my particular case, things have changed, as my husband finally retired after 20 years in the U.S Army. I clearly said to him, "now it is my turn." It is my turn to focus on my nursing career while he helps me care for my children. Still, I am a mom, and I can't just go to work without caring for them. I still put both of the children to sleep after a long workday. I still take time whenever possible to be with them. Being a mother is a job that never ends, never sleeps. 

This is for all the mothers out there. You are not alone! Whether you work outside the home or just at home, all the mothers out there. Many of us get you. Make it a point to surround yourself with other mothers that understand your situation. Do not listen to the naysayers. Do not listen to those who may shame you. I have been there, and I have been criticized for working and not-working. I have decided that no matter what we do people will always talk, so for bad or good, follow your instinct and always do what is best for you as a person and your. Family! Because mother's day is every day!