Being a Nurse

I just finished the last of my "classroom orientation" yesterday, thank goodness! I remember when I actually liked orientation, and at this point with a bit more experience under my belt I couldn't wait for it to be over and actually get on the floor and get going.

There was however one thing that stuck in my mind from this week and a half of sitting, and that was this statistic..."In an eight hour shift, the nurse spends 1.7 hours with the patient." Not that this was very shocking to me, because I do it everyday, but it was the fact that it was written down black and white. It makes me so sad that I can't sit at the bedside and have a conversation. I can't always teach no matter how much I'd like too. I can't hold a hand like they told me nurses should. I don't always have enough time to ease fears, stay with the lonely, or simply listen. INSTEAD, I am arguing with doctors, calling them back, filling out paperwork, charting my brains out, walking from one end of the floor to the other to find a wheelchair to take a patient to dialysis since there might not always be transport, explaining to families why their loved ones aren't being taken on time to their appropriate testing, trying to interpret the hieroglyphics of doctor orders, checking and double checking that what's coming up from the pharmacy is correct, answering call lights, checking labs and other results, making sure the patient gets their labs drawn and testing done to begin with........ it just never ends. Throw in a couple patients who are not understanding, and a doctor who thinks it's easy being a nurse and I'm not always sure I even get 1.7 hours with my patients.

However the below poem is something I refer to often.

BEING A NURSE

You will never be bored.

You will always be frustrated.

You will be surrounded by challenges.

So much to do and so little time.

You will carry immense responsibility.

Aver very little authority.

You will step into people's lives.

And you will make a difference.

Some will bless you.

Some will curse you.

You will see people at their worst...

And at their best.

You will never cease to be amazed

At people's capacity for

Love, courage, and endurance.

You will see life begin...and end.

You will experience resounding triumphs.

And devastating failures.

You will cry a lot.

You will laugh a lot.

You will know what it is to be human

And to be humane.

-Melodie Chenevert