National Nurses Week: Ashley Poole: Late-blooming nurse after birth of children

Ashley Poole was a late bloomer in the nursing profession.

Poole grew up in a medical household and had been intimidated by the knowledge and responsibility of going into that field.

Instead, she sought and pursued a degree in marketing from Southeast Missouri State University.

The birth of her first child changed her outlook because a nurse made such a big impression. She witnessed firsthand during labor that taking care of someone is more than just the delivery of care based on knowledge. It also comes from the heart.

Poole said Merlene Johnson "exuded confidence. She was excited for us, allayed all my fears and took it all down to a personal level. She made it personal. She was supposed to get off at 3 o'clock, but I was in the throes of labor, so she worked past her shift. When Connor was born, I was crying; my husband, Josh, was crying; and she was crying. It was a great experience, even though I was super scared."

Poole said that about a year later, Johnson also helped deliver Poole's daughter, Kaia, and her approach was the same. Poole said she made such an impression on the family that the Pooles invited Johnson to the children's birthday parties the first couple of years.

After Kaia was born, Poole, inspired by Johnson, decided to enter the nursing profession.

Poole, a registered nurse and CEN (certified emergency nurse), has worked several nursing jobs, including roles at two of Cape Girardeau's hospitals, since 2009. Her work includes being an emergency room nurse. Now she works as a nurse for Air Evac. She works 24 hours on and 24 hours off, every other week. The days can be grueling, or slow, she said.

Poole said her nursing career has been building blocks. She's learned a lot in each position, from her early days and through her training and experience as a licensed practical nurse, and now a registered nurse. Many of her early co-workers were mentors and taught her a lot. Now she has found herself in more of a mentor role after more than a decade of working in the profession.

Poole said her work at Air Evac includes arriving at scenes of accidents on the highways, but most of it includes transporting patients from one hospital to another.

"People don't normally see me when it's a good day," she said. "I think the reason Merlene could be so light hearted and calming to everyone was that she had experience and education and knew her stuff. For me, the more confident I am in my knowledge and patient care, I don't have to stress on those things, and it helps me be a calm presence, reducing anxiety. Patients often don't remember me at all. It's usually the family, communicating with them during the crazy traumatic times. As a Christian, this is part of my ministry in being the best I can be to do the Lord's work through my hands."

Poole's husband is also a paramedic, though he now works at a local hospital, while she's out in the field. Their career paths crisscrossed in that way.

She said it's helpful to have support from someone who knows what the other is going through.

Poole said the work she did during the COVID-19 pandemic was some of the most stressful work she's been through. She said because of the nature of the pandemic, and the need to reduce the spread of the virus, more was expected from nurses. She said not only did nurses have to provide intense patient care, but some of the other types of staff were no longer working. Nurses ended up taking on roles in housekeeping and food service to reduce the risk of spread. She said she caught COVID-19 before vaccines were available, and her knowledge of the disease and how it behaved added stress to her own health and situation.

When asked what she would like the public to know about nursing, she said she'd like people to know nurses are doing a lot more work behind the scenes than what the patient sees. Medical care, unlike other day-to-day experiences, is not delivered on a first-come, first-served basis. Care, especially in the ER, is delivered based on the urgency of each case and each request.

"There is so much on a nurse's plate that you don't see," she said. "If we don't immediately come back, especially in the ER world, please show some grace. We have to prioritize care and requests, and there's more on a nurse's plate now than ever. We have phones to answer and care to coordinate ... there's a lot on a nurse's plate now, and, unfortunately, lower positions are the ones that go unfilled. Those tasks are often delegated to nurses. So if you're waiting, it's probably for a good reason."

Poole said she enjoyed working with the different nurses she's met throughout her career.

"People can come into nursing with a lot of different backgrounds," she said. "With new programs, you can come into nursing straight out of high school. Others are going into it as a second career.

When asked which role she's enjoyed the most, Poole said, "I have to look at it as building blocks. When you're a CNA or an ICU tech, a lot of times I was working hand in hand with nurses who have been doing it for decades. The things you learn in the real world are just as valuable as what you learn in nursing school."

Despite the challenges, Poole encourages people to consider nursing as a career. The world needs more nurses, she said.

"I also wish people knew how versatile a career nursing can be, and how many different specialties and types of work you can do," she said. "You can be a nurse and make a good wage basically out of high school as an LPN and work your way up. Nursing is one of the best ways, especially for lower-socioeconomic class women, to break wage barriers and provide for a family. For example, although I have a bachelor's degree in a non-nursing field, I only have an associate's in nursing, and there are very few roles I can't do without a bachelor's."