Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013
Written by Nathan Clendenin for UNC Health Care
If you listen carefully to the sounds heard in a neonatal intensive care unit — the continual beeping of monitors, parents of patients deeply breathing in and out sighs of hope — all layered over the constant chatter of health care professionals discussing patient care.
It’s when things are quiet and calm, you might hear Donovan Hazard, a nurse in the Newborn Critical Care Center at N.C. Children’s Hospital, share his latest excursion into the woods, stalking the elusive buck.
As a bow hunter, Hazard enjoys the serene atmosphere the outdoors provides, that opposite to his job. In the woods, all that you hear is the sound of your own footsteps or a twig falling in the distance … until you hear the footsteps of the deer.
In a split second, Hazard’s two worlds collide as his heart pounds and he struggles to remain perfectly calm and still, much like on the neonatal critical care unit when something doesn’t go as planned. He ever slowly lifts his bow, takes in a deep breath and waits for that perfect moment …
See what bow hunting is all about in this month’s RN: Real Nurses.