Lauren Pugh:
CLASS OF 1976
Bridgewater-Raritan East High SchoolClass of 1976
Bridgewater, NJ
Lauren's Story
Life
After HS I went to college for half a year. Decided I didn't want to pay money for classes I just had in HS! So I joined the AF. I met husband one there. Fell in love with his music, not him. Had an absolutely horrible marriage and 3 wonderful children. Got out of that marriage by becoming an RN. Met my soulmate and second husband over a "Code Blue" in the ER where I was working. He's a respiratory therapist and so very good at what he does. He loves children. Good thing because I came with 3 and then Roger and I had one together. If we had met earlier in life I'm sure we would have had many more children. Roger has absolutely spoiled me for any other men. If something should ever happen to him (God forbid!) I could never be with anyone else. He's the most patient, caring, giving man I have ever met. I'm very lucky.
So, Between HS and now I have lived in many states and seen ALOT! I have had some very wonderful life learning experiences. I am happy where I am in life!
Workplace
I finally got my life together in 1987 and started nursing school. I needed a job where I could support myself and 3 children so I could get out of an awful marriage. I started college in FL, but finished in MO. I graduated in 1992, with my RN. I love being a nurse. I try to treat every patient as if they were a member of my own family. My greatest learning experience was when I started working in St. Louis, MO in a level 2 Trauma Center. My first year of nursing was pretty nondescript but when I started in the ER what a learning experience! We took care of 250 patients/24 hours. We had all the indigent, homeless, gang bangers in the city. We also had the contract with the city and county for prisoners so we always had police in the ER which helped me feel safe. (Police are so fun to party with but I wouldn't marry one!) You never knew what you were going to have come through the door, a code, a stabbing, gunshot wound, drug overdose... or the homeless guy who needed stitches out 3 weeks ago. I worked the 7p to 7a shift so I got to see the "better" side of patients. I absolutely loved the adrenaline rush whenever I worked. I met my second husband there, he's a respiratory therapist and we had a son. We moved to CO where I worked the ER and then ICU which is another great experience to work in Intensive Care. It strengthened my belief in God because when you have a patient that should all rights be dead and lives or a patient that in no way should have ...Expand for more
died, but did, you can't help but feel there's a greater force out there. After CO we moved to MN because the schools are so much better. There I worked in the ER but went to the clinic because the hours suited my homelife better. Then I became Nursing Supervisor for the clinic but missed direct patient care. So an opportunity came up to train into the Operating Room so I jumped on it. That's where I am today. Working in the OR of the University of MN Hospital. We take care of the most interesting and complex cases imagineable. We also take the patients that the Mayo Clinic won't (they don't want to screw up their success rates). I recently got my certification as a Legal Nurse consultant and am trying to start my own business. The physicalness of being a nurse has taken it's toll on my body. I have had surgery on my shoulder and recently my elbow and will probably need wrist surgery in the future. So now it's time to find a desk job where I can dictate my own hours and vacations. But all in all nursing has been a wonderful job and life experience! Currently I am working as the night charge nurse in an Operating Room in Burnsville, MN. We do ALOT of C-sections on night shift,which is great because I love babies!
Military
I joined the AF on 7-7-77! It was the best experience for me. It taught me discipline and structure. I was one of only a few women Aerospace Ground Equipment Mechanics. Bootcamp was a breeze. We had MP's buying us beer at the dance hall, even though we weren't supposed to be drinking! I loved the physical part of it except running, I hated running! But when I was done I had lost 3 sizes! I went to technical school at Chanute AFB, IL. We had the crappiest barracks, old WWII barracks that were cold and breezy. We used to get up at 4am to do chores and then great breakfast to be in school at 6am. We got out at noon. Went to lunch did homework and got my uniform ready for the next day. Went out by 2pm every day and drank and ate pizza until midnight then got up at 4am and did it all over again. It was GREAT! My first base was Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, AK. There were only a dozen women in my barracks. I LOVED AK! It is absolutely gorgeous and so clean. The Northern Lights are spectacular and have to be seen in person to really be able to experience them. I did a lot of hiking and camping and explored glaciers and saw the salmon spawn, it was wonderful. Being in the military gave me such a sense of pride and worth.
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