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MURRAY — National Nurses Week is happening right now to acknowledge the hard work done in the stressful line of work. KSL-TV is featuring one such nurse, who now saves lives at the very same hospital that saved hers.
"I knew as a kid I wanted to do something in the medical field," said Courtney Miller, a registered nurse with Intermountain Health.
From the outside looking in, Miller may seem like every other neurology and orthopedics nurse.
"I, as a kid, listened to my mom tell her stories of caring for patients and thought that was just the coolest thing — to spend your life serving others."
Growing up in the Beehive State, the vision of her future goals was clear from a young age, but her eyesight wasn't.
"I got glasses in first grade and, you know, my life changed in sixth grade when I got contacts," Miller said. "I started getting just horrendous migraines when I was about 12, and they would come and I had to go into my room in the dark and sleep it off."
In July of 2007, at just 16 years old, Miller was diagnosed with a blood vessel malformation and needed brain surgery.
"The OR is very overwhelming — it's bright, it's big, there's scary-looking instruments and people you've never seen before. And as they brought me into the room, I remember just staring at the ceiling and thinking, what is my outcome?"
While her vision of her own future became blurry, clarity returned.
"It really did solidify that yes, this is want I want to do."
Miller was able to leave Intermountain Medical Center a week after surgery.
She pursued a career in nursing that eventually took her out of state, but after creating a family of her own, she realized it was time to head back to Utah.
"The first listing to show up was assistant nurse manager, ortho/neuro, Intermountain Medical Center," Miller said. "And I was like, I think I've read that wrong."
"In Courtney's interview, we had this big panel and she talked about how she had surgery at the medical center and how her life was saved, and all of us were just like, 'Oh my gosh. She's it,'" said Chantay Stringham, a registered nurse with Intermountain Health.
Miller was the person.
"We listen to patients. We try to understand where they're coming from and help sympathize with them, but you really can't do it unless you've been in that situation. And it's really cool knowing that Courtney can do that," Stringham said.
Today, Miller does what she loves — saving people's lives in the very place that saved hers.
"It's really nice to see that we are having a week to say, 'Hey, thank you for the work that you do,'" Miller said with emotion. "Because it is really, really hard to be a nurse, but it is really, really rewarding. I can't imagine doing anything but being a nurse for the rest of my life."
