A Lesson from Shanghai
Wangzhen Cai, RN

We all have our reasons for going to nursing school. I still remember the first day of clinicals. The professor asked each of us why we wanted to be a nurse. I was impressed with my classmates’ responses — compassion, caring, and the desire to help others. When it came to me, I could only say, “I want to make money.” My instructor looked up in shock to see who had said such a thing. I told the truth. Making money was my goal. Let me explain why.

Five and half years ago, I was struggling in China. I lived with my mother and father in Shanghai in what you couldn’t even call an apartment. It was a 10-foot by 12-foot room in which my parents raised three children. We shared the room with three other families. The bathroom was down a very steep flight of stairs on the floor below.

We were poor, even for China. My parents grew up in the countryside. They never had the opportunity to learn to read or write. Their life was always a struggle, but they managed to keep my sisters and me alive through a very difficult period in China. They could not read to their children, but they always taught us about life, honesty, love, respect, and to always be grateful. My parents, especially my father, taught me about courage. It was that courage that gave me the ability to leave all my friends and family in Shanghai and come to America.

Now that my parents are 75, I have two fears: I’m afraid that they will fall down the stairs in the middle of the night. My latest, uncontrollable fear is SARS.

Healthcare workers in China were infected with SARS at an alarming rate. In Asia, many hundreds of people died. If you were age 50 or older, the fatality rate was greater than 50%, and death often came in a few days. But in the US, even with many confirmed infections, there were no known deaths from SARS. I do not believe this is an accident. Although nurses around the world are taught why and how infectious disease is spread, I believe the educational standards for nursing in this country are the best in the world. In this country, early intervention, advanced supportive care, with the emphasis on patient education, helped to keep both the mortality rate and new infections from SARS to the absolute minimum.

Quality of care, in a large part, depends on the individual nurse who delivers that care. It is only our dedication to excellence, our discipline to follow procedures that will protect us from infection. In my limited hospital experience, I have witnessed nurses delivering patient-to-patient care, with patients on contact precaution, without even washing their hands. Perhaps they were stressed; maybe they had to finish their workload on time. What if these patients were suffering from a not-yet-diagnosed disease? Should we and can we compromise the quality of care because of the shortage of staff or any other reason? The lesson from China is that we must not.

Because of the people I’ve met in nursing school, my view of nursing changed. I’ve learned that nursing is much more than I thought. Nursing is a science with the art of caring for others. The knowledge we gained provides us the basis for critical thinking. Nursing is a profession that educates people, that saves people’s lives, and that is good for our souls.

Today, if my professor asked me, “Why do you want to be a nurse?” my answer would still be, “To make money,” But the difference is, I will do it with compassion, caring, and the desire to help others; with professionalism and dedication inspired by my nursing school, its teachers, my friends, and family. My dream is to move my parents into a new home. Because of this country, its educational opportunities, and nursing, I now have the ability to change their lives. Nursing has changed mine.

Wangzhen Cai, RN, graduated from the College of Staten Island, NY, in May 2003, and is currently a staff nurse in ICU at Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY.