Inside the Occupation

As a young kid I watched a show on TV, a semblance of Deal or No Deal, and concluded that I wanted to become an economist just like the young girl that confidently won the show and left everyone in awe with her intelligence and wit. I was just 12. To me, becoming an economist meant being smart, young, witty. Winning games on televised shows and walking off with the stack of cash kind of a witty.

I asked my friend. She was not sure what she wanted to be. Some months later a similar epiphany hit her and she declared, she wished to be a nurse and save lives.

It's hard to imagine how we became and remained friends, given our drastically opposing prerogatives - one of us focused on saving lives, the other dreamt walking away with cash in the public eye and possibly never work again though keep the title of the economist. Yet, somehow, the friendship worked.

Truth About These Occupations

In 2023 I was hit with thyroid related disorder that saw me render myself in the emergency department of the local hospital. What I saw drastically departed from episodes or even scenes from ER or Grey's Anatomy. It was most definitely nothing like The Good Doctor.

Coming into ER was mild a shock. I walked into a packed room of people, frozen looks on their faces etched from hours of waiting, passively positioned in their sits in what seemed like "long-term" comfort positions.

I expected to be triaged. I needed urgent care. Though the faces of those already in the queue told me the "priority" in getting triaged would be based on anything but urgency. Urgency would be defined by trauma. The presence and severity of trauma was dependent on thousands of other factors. Trauma meant both unexpected trauma of recent occurrence and sudden escalation of chronic illnesses. The unwritten code of assessment in the first world ER facility worked backwards from the most primordial question ER personnel asked themselves:

"which of the patients is likely to die immediately, as opposed to those that would still live after losing all four limbs waiting?"

Sounds like war in Gaza? It felt like it too in that moment for me.

But besides the sad comparison my point is that all the nurses in that ER department aspired to become nurses to save lives when they thought of the occupation years back. They thought of clean uniforms, organized venues, resources, trays, tools, pans, rooms, beds, fancy diagnostic machines, and smiles in the end. The nurse saying: "I just pulled the angry splinter out of the finger and you are safe to go. You will live. Forever."

Reality was that in the space called ER where nurses were expected to make decisions under pressure for unusual traumatic incidents, the resources were largely used up as a last resort for slow systemic failures of the much larger machine - ongoing medical care for those with escalating chronic conditions.

No doubt I was one of them. I lost considerable weight and was not able to get to the professional specialist soon enough until I got hospitalized with severe BMI related issues and endocrine dysfunction.

I mutely watched nurses spend hours providing palliative care and pseudo social work to compensate for the system's failures everywhere else. The exhaustion of nurses was palpable.

A nurse's life revolved around self reinforcing dysfunction: overcrowding to rushed assessments designed to deal with the pressure of the queue to screaming crowds to mis-prioritization of patients to longer waits to more systemic failures.

The ER simply had no chance of ever resetting itself to its original intended design.

Reflections on Career Realities and Guiding the Next Generation Generation

My friend and I are now approaching our 50s, reflecting on the journey that brought us here. We dedicated over a decade to studying and earning various professional qualifications to establish ourselves in our careers. For 20 years, we held onto the hope that the system would change - that one day, we’d finally get to do, let alone enjoy, the work we envisioned when we first stepped into university.

Today, we’ve come to accept that we cannot change the world. As the old adage goes:

If I can’t change the world, I’ll change myself

However, we don’t want our children to inherit this sense of resignation. They deserve better. There needs to be practical, honest guidance for students - guidance that highlights both the rewards and the challenges of the careers they’re considering. Young people should be equipped with real, tangible, and objective insights, empowering them to make informed choices about what they truly want to pursue in life.

Truly Yours,

Narghiza Ergashova

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Narghiza Ergashova is a highly skilled finance executive based in Australia with extensive experience across industries like property, mining, chemicals, and infrastructure. She is recognized for her expertise in managing complex portfolios, building strong stakeholder relationships, and driving exceptional business performance.

As a thought leader, Narghiza regularly shares valuable insights on leadership, innovation, and personal growth. Through her Medium articles, she covers key topics such as employee engagement, effective leadership strategies, and overcoming business challenges. Her work resonates with professionals looking for actionable advice and inspiration to succeed in both their careers and personal lives.

To learn more about Narghiza Ergashova, you can explore her work on the Blogger, STCK.com or visit her Medium.com profile. Discover her expert insights and strategies for leadership, business growth, and navigating challenges in today’s fast-paced industries.

In May 2025 Narghiza Ergashova released her debut autobiography called Curly Clix Convictions . The book delves into Narghiza's journey as a professional, entrepreneur, and wife and a mother. You can visit her biography by clicking the link below.