Being a nurse; a perspective from a nurse

 I never thought I would be a nurse. Let alone be a nurse for 33 years! I had a high school counselor tell me in high school that I should be nurse. So what does a typical teenager do? Yep, do the opposite. So I went to college to pursue physical therapy instead. But after  4 1/2 years, nothing! I couldn't get accepted into PT school. So one day I decided that since nursing offers so much more, I decided to apply to nursing school and got in! 

                                           ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS I HAVE MADE.

You see, I love being a nurse. It just took a while to understand what nursing was really about. When you first graduate, it's like all about the paycheck. But you learn that you can do so much. I started out in the ICU in a general medical ICU. I learned so much that I went into cardiac nursing. Cardiac rehab, open heart recovery, coronary care. Then went into neuro nursing. Along the way I went into management from the bedside. Again I learned a lot. Now I am in a new part of nursing, care management, which is great too!

I have been seeing a lot of posts on facebook that puts the nursing profession and nurses in a bad spotlight. I have worked and still do, with some amazing people. Nursing is hard...NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEARTS!  I have been pooped on, peed on, puked on. I have gagged some because I cannot do snot! sorry. I have been hit, kicked, spit on. We see a lot and have a lot of stress. Especially going through Covid, that was hard. But I have also experienced families praying over me and blessing, a wife of a patient giving me a hug of thanks, families bringing in lunch because they know we are too busy to go get food. Letters and notes of kindness and appreciation. 

It is the hardest 3 shifts/ 36 hrs a week that anyone can do. I remember as a new nurse on night shift many moons ago, we use to bring books and magazines to read because we had down time. We would get a 30 minute lunch break. NOT ANY MORE! Every minute of a shift is filled with tasks, charting, med passes, and just keeping our patients stable and alive. Sometimes we don't get to sit down, just only when we are charting. And if you are lucky you get a potty break! Then we hand them off to the next shift and come back and do it all over again!

What I learned as a nurse that we GET TO DO is:

• Be our patient's person when they do not have family
• Hold someone's hand in a time of need
• Bring joy in time of grief
• Bring comfort in pain
• Bring calm in confusion
• Bring smiles and laughter to a stressful time
• Bring a kind word to a family struggling with difficult decisions
• Saving lives

But this doesn't only apply to our patients...we are supportive of each other too. Giving a fellow nurse a hug, a shoulder to cry when there has been a code. Helping each other with difficult patients that do not understand how their words hurt. Going out for breakfast after your shift for mimosas, just because. I have worked with some of the toughest people but some of the kindest and loving people too.

I have used my knowledge and talents for medical missions and giving advice to family. I have also been a patient too, as a cancer patient and my nurse was such a support to me. 

I have experienced so much over the last 33 years and I know I have more to come. The nursing profession is so rewarding. We give so much of ourselves but in return we see the lives we saved. One example is a patient I had, she had a heart attack, had surgery and we thought she was not going to make it. She was in the ICU for 3 months and she coded so many times and kept coming back, she was our miracle. I have you know that she survived, was discharged to rehab, then to home and came back to see us on the unit. Walked on the unit. It was amazing! And I was part of that care to help her recover and go home to her family. 

So if you are thinking of nursing as a profession, DO IT! You will not regret it. Shadow a nurse for a few hours in different areas to find your place. Not everyone is ICU nurses, just like not everyone (like me) is a pediatric nurse. Never underestimate what being is nurse is. Carry your RN, LPN, APRN title proudly. 

Matthew 25:40; "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." 

Love to all,