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. Right this moment, a narrative about rediscovering that 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 few yr later and doubted whether or not she was minimize out for nursing.
ANGELINA MCCALL: I used to be very embarrassed and ashamed. And I assumed, OK, effectively, I can not work within the ER, however I’m bilingual. I’ve a automotive. And I dwell 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 after I bought there, folks had been coming in for first support. They’ve an damage of their foot, wound care, blister care, they usually open up, they usually inform me tales which might be very tough. There was one household that got here in and the little lady was in all probability round 10, and the dad of the little lady begins to cry. And he is telling me that the rationale 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’ll 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 footage for me, they usually specific their love for me, a stranger. And at that time, I spotted the one yr that I struggled within the ER – as a lot as I really feel like I failed, I’m really utilizing the talents that I realized. Nursing is a phenomenal factor. It may be wonderful to be with somebody throughout their worst state of affairs. And I ask myself, why did I develop into a nurse? And it is to do this type of work.
MARTÍNEZ: Angelina McCall along with her husband, Matt, in Tucson, Ariz. Angelina determined to not depart 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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