Trauma Nurse Discovers Passion for Helping Others By J1 Reporter Reagan Rosenbaum
“I think the idea of being able to leave the world a little bit better of a place than when you left it is what motivates me to get up in the morning,” replied Lauren Haindfield, a trauma nurse in Chicago, Ill. Haindfield is 30 years old and stands around 5 foot 7 with dark hair. When she is not working, she enjoys things such as art and taking her French bulldog, Duke, to the dog park. Duke has a habit of playing soccer with a red ball over interacting with the other dogs. Hainfield has to hide said ball from him to prevent this; regarless, he still manages to find it. In the past few months, she has also taken up the hobby of cooking, where she has finally mastered the perfect chicken parmesan; her secret: the world may never know. Haindfield hasn’t always seen herself with a future working in the emergency room as a nurse. After graduating from Iowa University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Physiology, her original plan was to go to grad school for perfusion where she would learn how to operate a heartlung machine that pumps oxygenated blood throughout the body during heart
surgery. discussed that typically, “But, I realized during there are two patients per transition time that there nurse in the Intensive Care was so much I could do in Unit. During the thick of it nursing,’’ Haindfield said. all, there were four or five She went to grad school at patients who were intubated DePaul University in Chiand alone; she was the only cago where she did a joint one there with them. Registered Nurse (RN) and It’s hard. There is this Master of Science in Nurs“God-complex” in meding (MSN)program. A few icine. The truth is, you years cannot save later, everyone”, “I think the idea she Haindof being able to startfield said. ed her Along with leave the world a career. COVID-19 She better place than during the quickly summer of when you left it is learned 2020, the that protests what motivates nursing and riots me to get up in is not surroundfor the ing the the morning,” faint of Black Lives heart. Matter -Lauren Haindfield It is a movement job that proved a requires testing situcritical thinking skills on ation for not only Hainfield, the spot. “I was worried the but also everyone else who older nurses would think was working alongside her. “It was like a scene from I’m stupid,” Haindfield said. a warzone. We were pullRegardless, she has not slowed down, even through ing people out of cars and around 30 of them came in the peak of COVID-19 with gunshot wounds within where she considered other a 6-hour span,” Haindfiled alternatives to her current reflected. “Seeing what situation. human beings are capable of COVID-19 in the hosis one of the most disheartpitals was a picture drawn ening things.” with the reference of someRegardless of how many one’s worst fear. Hainfield 36
people she would see in a day that didn’t want her help or were scared to be around her because she worked in healthcare, Haindfield didn’t stop. She kept going because there was something about helping all of those people that made the gut wrenching reality of her job little more bearable. While healthcare is one of the most mentally and physically exhausting professions, the doctors and nurses are not doing it for their own benefit. The reward they receive in getting to see their patients overcome their illnesses and injuries is greater than any tangible thing someone could hand them. Even though doctors and nurses can feel alone in the grand scheme of things, everyone is always there for each other. “It’s like working with a family. It can make even the worst experiences possible to overcome,” Haindfield said. Now, Haindfield has found herself in a different position in life. She is currently working in a pediatric trauma center while also teaching a few days during the week. “While I do miss the chaos of taking care of adults, kids are much more appreciative,” Haindfield
