BISMARCK, N.D. (KXNET) — On February 16, 2022, Governor Doug Burgum dedicated this week as Nurses Week, to honor all that nurses do in our state.

KX News went into the life of one nurse who simply loves his profession.

Was it a game of operation? Was it after binge-watching a medical drama? Or was it after that nice nurse patched up your leg after a bike accident?

For Registered Nurse, Jordan Taghon, it was his mom.

“Well, my mom is or was actually a nurse as well. She’s retired now, but she was a nurse and that kind of started the thought of well, maybe I would kind of like to go into medicine and go into nursing and so it was a process from there,” said Taghon.

There may be plenty of jobs available, but with school, certifications, labs, and lots of tests, the road is difficult, and never truly stops.

So what makes Taghon stay?

One experience sticks out to him.

“When I was a relatively new nurse, I had a patient who was having chest pain and they thought it was due to heart issues, so he was on a certain medication drip but that medication drip was not really helping his symptoms. So I just kept asking clarifying questions and I collaborated with my other nurses on the floor because again I was a relatively new nurse and they were like well, what if it’s this, and so we reached out to the provider, got a scan, and it wasn’t related to a vessel issue. It was more due to blood clots, and that one medication is a common indication to it so we actually got that medication, stopped,  changed the plan of care, and that person got discharged shortly after that,” said Taghon.

Taghon says being a North Dakota nurse teaches him the importance of diversity.

Because not every North Dakota community is the same.

“You kind of get a little bit of aspect into people who are more in the city, but also just farm life and rural life and things like that, and so people have so many different experiences that you might never be able to experience so just being able to hear those,” said Taghon.

He says when he’s not in nurse mode, he’s just an average Joe, well an average Jordan in his case.

“I’m kind of pretty boring but I do like to read. I also like to write, I like short stories and things like that. I do have a stepdaughter who’s seven and I do have two dogs and they’re very sassy and they keep me busy but overall, it’s pretty good,” said Taghon. 

Taghon says he works to achieve new goals this year, and he wants others to challenge themselves too.

If you’re thinking of becoming a nurse or looking into the field, he says to take an internship, do some shadow work, and just go for it.

To him, it’s everything he imagined, and more.

He also wanted to give special recognition to the entire hospital staff across the state.

He says without them, nurses could not do what they do.