Your Insurance Doesn’t Cover the Good Tylenol®

A Story About Claire and Her Two Hearts

This is an excerpt from my eBook The Beginner’s Guide to Nursing: What They Didn’t Tell You In Nursing School

At some point during your nursing career, you’ll question the system . . . a lot.

I’m sure no one told you that this amazing, enormous healthcare system you are now a part of, has a few holes here and there. And you’ll be amazed at the things that can fall through even the tiniest holes!

I was pretty new to nursing when I first started questioning things.

First Heart Rejected

Claire was a 14-year-old heart transplant patient and the first night I took care of her she was on day two of a full-blown rejection. And this wasn’t even her first rejection.

Her body had rejected the first heart she received 11 months before. It’s a rare thing for someone so young to be able to have a second transplant regardless of the reason. However, in Claire’s case, everyone knew the reason for her rejection: she hated taking pills and she let everyone know it.

I had been a pediatric cardiovascular intensive care unit (Peds CVICU) nurse for about five years. And before I met Claire, I hadn’t thought about rights or…