Liz King started her journey to becoming a nurse with a much different plan in mind: she wanted to become a nun. “I thought I was going to be a nun, but then I decided I was going to become a nurse,” says Liz King, RN, a nurse on Piedmont Atlanta Hospital’s 5 North unit. “Someone once told me that a nun and a nurse are very similar – they’re both helping people,” she says.

A childhood battle with severe asthma and related health issues as an adult gave King the drive and empathy to care for her patients in need. King cautions new RNs that a career in nursing is not always glamorous. “You do not sit there all day long holding someone’s hand wishing them well,” she says. “You’re running around like crazy and you’re working really hard.”

King finds nursing especially satisfying when she is able to lift a patient’s spirit during a difficult circumstance, help him or her understand a complicated diagnosis, or comfort a family if their loved one passes away. “Just maybe, you’ve given them that glimpse of hope,” she says. “That is what is rewarding.”

For more information on nursing at Piedmont, click here.

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