Angelina McCall talks about volunteering as a nurse at a clinic on the U.S.-Mexico border after struggling to work within the ER on the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Time for StoryCorps. Today, a narrative about rediscovering which means in your work. Angelina McCall started her nursing profession at an emergency room in Tucson, Ariz. It was 2020 on the peak of COVID. She left that job a couple of 12 months later and doubted whether or not she was lower out for nursing.
ANGELINA MCCALL: I used to be very embarrassed and ashamed. And I assumed, OK, properly, I can not work within the ER, however I’m bilingual. I’ve a automotive. And I stay proper on the border. My mother is from Mexico. She’s an immigrant. So I assumed I can perhaps assist these migrants which might be caught on the border proper now.
I utilized for the volunteer place at a clinic, and once I obtained there, individuals have been coming in for first support. They have an damage of their foot, wound care, blister care, they usually open up, they usually inform me tales which might be very troublesome. There was one household that got here in and the little lady was most likely round 10, and the dad of the little lady begins to cry. And he is telling me that the explanation why they left their house nation was as a result of there was somebody who was making an attempt to harm his daughter, and he could not shield her down there. And I inform myself, OK, I’m going to let him know that he’s in a secure place, that he’s worthy of security, love, compassion, after which be a nurse and assist the younger lady.
That little lady drew these photos for me, they usually specific their love for me, a stranger. And at that time, I noticed the one 12 months that I struggled within the ER – as a lot as I really feel like I failed, I’m really utilizing the abilities that I realized. Nursing is a wonderful factor. It could be superb to be with somebody throughout their worst state of affairs. And I ask myself, why did I turn into a nurse? And it is to do this sort of work.
MARTÍNEZ: Angelina McCall together with her husband, Matt, in Tucson, Ariz. Angelina determined to not go away nursing, and he or she nonetheless volunteers on the clinic on the border. Her interview is archived on the Library of Congress.
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