During one of Ambar Cortez’s pediatric rotations, she was assigned to the immunology floor for children with cancer. One of her patients was a little boy with Down syndrome who was suffering from leukemia. When the boy’s mother had to briefly step out, he started crying, and Ambar tried her best to comfort him by reading books and playing games.
Suddenly, the boy needed to be moved to another room, but he refused to get in the provided wheelchair. Instead, he hung onto Ambar like a “little koala.” She carried him for the next two hours because that was the only way the boy would stop crying. The mother was impressed because usually this boy doesn’t let others touch him.
In Ambar’s eyes, this experience was an example of God knowing where she needed to be. “I have a son of my own, so my heart kind of just melted because I knew that that poor kid was probably going through so much,” she said. “I just hold it deep in my heart to know that Heavenly Father knows where we need to be. You can always be the hand of the Savior even when you think you're not needed.”
Ambar learned similar lessons about how to care for patients like Christ would throughout her education with BYU College of Nursing.
Another impactful memory came from one of her shifts in the intensive care unit (ICU). Her patient had a major abdominal wound, and he was declining quickly. Ambar was tasked with giving him medication, but they were not working.
The patient continued to worsen, and by the end of the day, the family decided to take him off life support. All of the family came to see him before he passed.
Because she couldn’t save the man’s life, Ambar became frustrated, wondering if she could even make a difference as a nurse. Yet, she did find some glimmer of hope. “I need to love [my patients] like the Savior would while they're here and while they're in my care. Give them all you can while they're with you. I cannot save everybody, and I will not be able to save everybody. I will lose many patients throughout my career, not because of my mistakes, but just because it was their time.”
Ambar also had an opportunity to go to Ecuador as part of a Global Population Health Practicum this past summer. She shared her thoughts in an article you can read here.
After having her second child and graduating (right around the same time!), Ambar hopes to find a job in Med-Surg in July or August before moving into ICU or emergency unit. Long-term, Ambar wants to become an emergency nurse practitioner. She feels very prepared because of the experiences she’s had as a student in BYU College of Nursing.