Vivian L. Allen, APRN-BC
Why do I like working at Southeast Georgia Health System? I have been here
over 20 years – first as a bedside nurse in MICU, then Maternity
and now as a nurse practitioner. There is a sense of family here. My twins
were raised here and most know them on sight. It’s not a come and
do your job and leave kind of place. Most of the team member enjoy working
and socializing with each other. When someone is having a difficult time
in his/her life, everyone is there to offer words of encouragement and support.
What influenced my decision to become a nurse? I was the kid that was always
bringing home injured animals and nursing them back to health (or trying
to). As I tell nursing students or anyone thinking about going into this
profession, it’s a calling like a calling to become a nun. You don’t
do it for the accolades or glory. You do it because it’s what’s
in your heart, and you could never think of anything else that would fill
your heart with so much joy as helping another human being when they're
feeling their most vulnerable, scared and sick, and at the end of their
life. If you had to go back and do it again, nursing would still be what
I would do.