Kira McFadden 26 November 2019 Elizabeth Wood (Feature/Profile).
Elizabeth Wood picks up her stethoscope, holding it steady to the patient’s chest. After listening for a moment, she pulls away and begins taking the patient’s other vitals.
“Have you been having any more issues breathing,” she asks.
“I feel just the same as when I first came in,” he replies.
Elizabeth Wood is a registered nurse with a Bachelor of Science degree at Riddle Hospital, located in Media, Pa. She is a recent graduate of Widener University and has been working as a nurse for almost three years now.
Although nursing was not always her path and she used to want to be a lawyer, she realizes now that it is the only profession for her. She feels that her purpose in life is to help people and through nursing, she is able to help those who cannot help themselves.
Wood claims that a good nurse is one that cares for her patients, while also maintaining an objective view of them and their symptoms.
“There’s a reason why they don’t let doctors/nurses care for people they love, because when handling someone’s medical conditions you have to remain detached so as to have a level-head,” she explains.
Wood is currently doing her rounds, where she travels to patients’ rooms, takes their vitals, and basically ensures that they are feeling as well as they can. She walks into a particular patient’s room,
Wood says that, although it seems mundane, she enjoys meeting new patients and checking up on them, as it gives her a sense of community within the hospital walls.
“Every patient is different,” Wood says. “You just don’t know the type of person you’re going to meet when you come in. It’s exciting in a way.”
Wood spent the majority of her childhood growing up in Upper Darby, the suburbs right outside of Philadelphia, Pa. She had not had an easy childhood, as her mother died when she was 10 and her father was an alcoholic. She did not really care much for anything and never imagined that she had a bright and prosperous future ahead of her.
It was not until her junior year of high school, when she transferred to Ridley high after moving in with her aunt, that she began to imagine the possibilities her future held. Suddenly, she was getting As and Bs in school, as well as worrying about what college she was going to attend.
“I was extremely set on going to Temple University [University], even having my family buy me Temple gear for Christmas,” she says.
“It took me by surprise when I saw the rejection letter. It almost made me want to give up.”
Although she had received good grades during her junior and senior year of high school, her GPA was not where it should have been due to her first two years of high school. It was during those two years that she lost her older cousin, who she saw as more of a sister, to carbon monoxide poisoning. Wood recalls feeling devastated and lost all interest in every area of her life so school was the farthest thing from her mind.
“It’s weird when you lose people you love out of the blue like that,” Wood says, “It comes as a shock, sort of like a ‘is this really happening?’ Moment. But it is and there’s nothing you can do except try to live your life as normal as possible.”
After receiving a rejection letter from Temple, she still held out hope that her other choice, Widener University, would accept her. They did and after two years of school, she was able to land a job at Dunwoody Village, a nursing home in Newtown Square, Pa. Wood enjoyed helping senior citizens and grew close to many patients. It was, however, difficult when someone she came to know eventually passed away, but she said experiences like that only help her to do her job better.
“I think nurses sometimes forget or become numb to the fact that we’re dealing with actual human beings,” she says, “It’s not a joke when someone’s life could possibly be on the line.”
She worked at Dunwoody Village for three years while she was obtaining her Bachelor of Science degree at Widener. Wood finally went searching for another job after a falling out with one of her coworkers.
She declined to give details but says what happened was enough for her to want to leave and not come back.
Today, Wood is writing down notes about the patients she has seen so far. Every person’s chart has to be specific and detailed, so that the doctor is able to properly assess and medicate them. Afterward, she moves to discuss her patients with the other nurses involved in each case. They all chat for a few minutes before dispersing off to their other duties.
Because she is a nurse, she sees some pretty harsh or “weird” cases come in. Although she is not allowed to talk about specific patients, she says spending everyday in a hospital gives you exposure to the crazy things that can happen in this world.
“Every time I come in to work, I try to have no expectations for how my shift is going to go,” she says. “You just never know what might happen or what you’re going to see.”
Wood says that she hopes to one day go back to school to earn her PhD. She dreams of being able to do her own research and widely expanding her knowledge of the medical field.
“It’s all about my mom,” she says. “Everything I’ve done and everything I’ll do is for her.”
Riddle Hospital, Media Pa. Photo Courtesy of Patch.com