The Art of Owning Your Practice

Reflections from an Infectious Disease Nurse Practitioner

If asked to take a pen and draw a flower, what would that flower look like?
One might sketch a rose, another a tulip, and someone else — a classic circle with five petals. No two would be the same, even if given the same set of instructions. The art of caring for patients is no different. We each bring our own lens, our own hand, and yes — sometimes our own wobbly lines — to the work we do.

When I reflect on owning my practice — from a bedside nurse to an Infectious Disease nurse practitioner — I think about that image: each of us drawing from our experiences to create something uniquely ours. Our care is personal, shaped by the knowledge we carry and the compassion that drives us. Just as we picture a flower in our mind and bring it to life on paper, we each take our own experiences as a mother, daughter, father, son, friend, or patient, and bring them to life at the bedside. As a clinician, I don’t just rely on data and guidelines (though I respect them, and they’ve saved me more than once). I also lean on the quieter parts of my practice — the things that come from who I am, and why I show up the way I do.

In the world of infectious disease, owning my practice often means leaning into complexity — and occasionally embracing chaos — while holding space for the human behind the positive blood culture. It means staying curious when things don’t add up, persistent when cultures come back with something unexpected, humble enough to learn something new (even after years in the field), and remembering that healing doesn’t always come from the treatment plan alone. My best care comes when I bring both my expertise and my empathy to the bedside — leading with knowledge, but never leaving compassion behind.

I own my practice by stepping forward with curiosity and compassion, wearing the shoes of those I aim to serve. I show up each day with the image of my flower — pen in hand, ready to draw.