Kevin Kitchel, RN, Lansing, MI studied for a career in music recording, did computer work for Linex Systems, and worked for the Michigan Senate but didn’t feel passionate about any of it. His girlfriend, a nurse, inspired him to go back to school and he decided to finally follow advice that his grandmother, an anesthesiologist, had given him 20 years earlier. “If you want to help people, be a nurse.” He applied to a community college that had a work requirement as a prerequisite for nursing school. A neighbor referred him to a client who hired him directly for Direct Care work. He started without any training or medical supervision. The client told him what he needed and taught him how to do it including ostomy, decubitus ulcer, catheter, and infection care.
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Kevin was shocked at “how low the bar was set for employment, and how there’s such a high degree of responsibility or potential responsibility caring for somebody, with no vetting process and very little financial reward, for potentially life-threatening situations. This man was a quadriplegic. It was in some ways total care and I had no training whatsoever outside of my desire to go to nursing school.”
Kevin nevertheless “took to it right away. Just even in the first day I thought this is so much more rewarding than the work I had been doing in IT. Taking care of people just feels good for me.” He and his client hit it off. Even with all of his client’s physical needs, Kevin felt what was critically important was the quality of life that their relationship provided. He listened with great interest to his client’s rich life stories of the music industry, travels, and famous people he had met. He prepared his client’s favorite foods and they experimented with menus from different cultures. This proved to be one of the most enjoyable but challenging aspects of the job since Kevin is a strict vegetarian and most of the meals centered on meat. As Kevin says, “The relationship changed from me just being a guy who show up to cook food, to being a friend and a part of his life.”
Kevin eventually was accepted into nursing school and gave up DCW work. He is now a R.N. at a major hospital in the Lansing area. He maintains that his time as a DCW was invaluable. It was a path to a nursing career and made him a better nurse. It taught him empathy and patience and gave him an understanding of what people need at home once they leave the hospital. His advice to young people with an interest in health care is to try it. To decision makers, he advises raise the wages and provide training.