Nursing Is In My Blood!
Written: Oct 24 '00 (Updated Oct 05 '03)
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Pros: Self-gradifying; great need for caring nurses
Cons: Work weekends, holidays and usually short staffed!
The Bottom Line: I feel that nurses should be strongly dedicated, caring and unselfish with your time to provide excellent care!
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| Dunkjam's Full Review: Nursing Profession |
When I was a little girl I always thought that I would be a singer and marry Paul Anka! I thought I would live a glamorous life and travel around the world. Of course, being the youngest of three daughters, I ended up following my sisters into Lynchburg General Marshall Lodge School of Nursing in Lynchburg, Virginia. I think my parents are proud to know that all three of their daughters finished nursing school and became licensed to be Registered Nurses! My father was a medic in the Army during World War II and my mother volunteered at the Red Cross. So this is why I said that nursing is in my blood, because we all care about people and want to make a difference with our skills!
When we were children, I remember we would find an injured bird and take it back to our home so that our father could nourish it back to good health. If we saw a stray cat or dog that looked hungry, we would try to make sure the animal got a slice of bologna or some other food before he left our yard! These qualities of protecting, nourishing and caring must be incorporated in your nursing skills to be an effective and understanding nurse.
Nursing is one of the top professions that give you a great feeling of accomplishment and self-satisfaction. I feel that I am blessed when I get to make a difference in a patient's life. It may be a simple act of giving a pain medication or holding the hand of a terminally ill patient that has no family to be there with him!
Registered Nurses do not just give medications, do treatments, write reports, or check orders with the physician! You have to be the patient's advocate and stand up for the patient's needs, especially if the patient cannot do it himself. There has been times when I worked in the orthopedic/surgical floor at the Veterans Hospital where I had to make sure my patient knew that he has rights. Some times a physician would come into a patient's room and tell him that he was going to order this test or that treatment and walk out. So a good nurse, needs to take time to analyze your patient's understanding of what is going to happen next. So I usually ask my patient if he understands the test or treatment and then I go from there. You would be surprised how many Veterans would take the doctor's word as the "law"! I feel that the patient needs to know that he has choices and that he can ask for a second opinion from another physician. I think that a lot of the elderly patients still go along with whatever the doctor says because they feel uncomfortable asking him questions and they say they do not want to make the doctor mad. Whenever the physicians made their round, I would always go with them, just in case my patients needed more information about their care!
I found that during my twenty-eight years of nursing, that I did a lot more than just taking vital signs or administering medications. There is a lot of paperwork in nursing. The old saying that we used was "if you do not document your treatment, then it was not done!" Documentation is very important, especially when I worked in the operating room. Not only did we have to write everything three times on our cases, but we had to use computers! Since there are so many law suits being made, good documentation is very helpful, especially if you have to give a deposition.
Being a Registered Nurse means having good nursing skills, being a patient's advocate, sometimes just being a good listener! The biggest challenge for me was being a teacher, not only to my patients, but also to the new staff members as they started working on my floor. The RN is responsible for all staff under her shift. So being a good supervisor and helping management evaluate the nursing staff under my care was still part of my job. Since we were a government hospital, I got to work closely with nursing students. I even wrote a handout book on "Preparing Yourself For Surgery". I found that there were some basic things that you could discuss with each surgical patient and I would give them a copy of my book to read the night before their surgery. Then when I went back later to check on them, I would discuss their surgery with them and see if they had any questions. I always liked to get the family involved with the pending procedure if the patient wanted them there.
Some of the things that Registered Nurses have to do that you really do not think about; is attend hospital meetings, staff meetings, or special committee meetings. I liked to stay active in these meetings for my own self-improvement. RNs must take so many contact hours annually to keep their nursing licenses active. Each state has their own Professional Board of Registered Nurses and they have their own guidelines as to how many CEU's you must obtain each year.
There are a few downfalls in being a nurse. Unless you are really lucky, most nurses must do swing shifts and work holidays! If your RN for the next shift calls in sick, you may have to work mandatory overtime because there are usually not any volunteers to come in! Another big factor in nursing is patient overload! We are taught to give the professional nurse the most challenging patient to care for since he may need more skilled nursing! Sometimes the nursing morales tend to get very low. You may come on duty with the biggest smile, but by the end of your tour, you could have butted heads with a doctor or other staff member. I feel that you should never argue or discuss other patient's care with a staff member in front of patients or other staff members! I think one of the biggest disappointments is when the new time schedule comes out and you see that you have three straight weekends of duty! All of these factors have been known to cause "nurses' burnout"!
I have seen some very caring and skilled nurses leave this profession due to the feeling of not being appreciated by other members of the nursing staff! Another drawback that I have noticed is that some units have little "clicks"! This can make it very difficult for a new staff nurse to feel welcomed!
There are a lot of expenses in keeping up with the latest skills or treatments. If you are lucky, some hospitals will send you to seminars to get your training. I like to read the RN Magazine and the American Journal of Nursing to keep updated with the latest treatments or ideas. I also use the internet where I can go to the nursing sites and take tests for CEUs. There are some days when I worked that I would have to come home and soak my feet and then elevate them on a pillow; so I could go back to work again the next day! Being a Registered Nurse is very rewarding and gives me a sense of satisfaction! I feel that when I am nursing that I am closer to God. I will never forget the first time I saw a baby being delivered while I was a student nurse! I cried that such a miracle could happen!
I was blessed with a very good nursing staff when I worked at the Veterans Hospital. Whenever one of my nursing aides or LPNs would come up to me and report a change in a patient, I would always listen to them and go evaluate the patient's condition. If you keep a good rapport with your nursing staff, you will find that your floor or unit will run a lot smoother! I have had other nursing jobs as head of three surgeons' office and I have been a home health nurse. I worked four years at another clinic in Urology. Why, I even worked at our local penal system, although I must confess that all of the locked doors made me nervous! (just kidding)
If you want a job where you can really make a difference, if you love people, if you are a caring and self-motivated person; then I would happily recommend this job for you! I can honestly say that I have never regretted being a Registered Nurse and I like making a positive influence in my patient's care!
Just in case any of my fellow nursing students are reading this review, I just wanted you to remember me as Eva Jean Canaday, class of 1972!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Dunkjam
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Member: Eva Dunkle
Location: Beckley, West Virginia 25801
Reviews written: 154
Trusted by: 250 members
About Me:
West Virginia; wild,wonderful and free!
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