My Reflections on Nursing

Nurses General Nursing

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  • by sjalv
    Specializes in CVICU.

Disclaimer: I'm an RN student, not yet a practicing nurse. Pick apart the following thoughts as you will.

I really love how well-respected the nursing profession is by the public. When strangers ask me what I'm studying, one of the most common responses is "That's such an honorable career!". I have never told a person I was going to be a nurse and got a negative response like "Oh, one time I was hospitalized and..." or "Oh, you're gonna have to clean up poop!"

One of the main reasons I chose nursing as my career is because I didn't want to just be a number cruncher for some corporation. I didn't want my job to solely entail making someone else a profit. Will I be working for a corporation once I'm employed by a hospital? Yes. Will money be going into administration's pockets as a result of my work? Yes.

However, what will I SEE through my work? Not cash flowing, or projected profits. I will see a mother of 3 cry when she's told she has terminal breast cancer. I will hear a child laugh after weeks of being on life support in intensive care. I will feel genuine touch when I hold the patient for whom I am their only source of comfort. I will laugh with relieved parents when they realize that bump on their first toddler's skin isn't cancer, it's just a mosquito bite. I will be someone's confidant for 12 hours, my ears being the first on which their secrets have landed. I will be trusted with the most personal information about a person. I will have the chance to watch the tear-jerking embrace of a husband to his wife, who he thought wasn't going to make it through the evening.

Is real life a movie? No. I'll get vomited on. I'll probably get fecal matter on my shoes once.. or twice... or more than that. I'll get yelled at by someone physically dependent on narcotics because the doctor wouldn't believe their reported symptoms of pain. I'll be called incompetent by people who have never stepped foot inside a college. I'll have my hours cut because there aren't enough patients on the floor to care for. I'll have to care for drunk drivers, child abusers, rapists, drug addicts, pretentious people who think the world owes them something, and any type of personality the human brain can come up with.

The most rewarding thing, though, will be going home after every shift and thinking, as I lie down exhausted from working 12+ hours straight, about how many lives I positively affected that day, and how many people will never forget the way I cared for them. And on days that I'm driving home wondering WHY I didn't go into an desk-and-chair profession, I hope that this side of me will surface and think about what a difference nurses make in peoples' lives every day.

ICURN3020

392 Posts

Keep this attitude! :)

roser13, ASN, RN

6,504 Posts

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

"The most rewarding thing, though, will be going home after every shift and thinking, as I lie down exhausted from working 12+ hours straight, about how many lives I positively affected that day, and how many people will never forget the way I cared for them. And on days that I'm driving home wondering WHY I didn't go into an desk-and-chair profession, I hope that this side of me will surface and think about what a difference nurses make in peoples' lives every day"

Best of luck to you. I hope and pray that you will find a position/facility that supports you and allows you to feel that you did make a difference that day.

In the interim, please read more threads here from new grads initially encountering the real world of nursing. Education may prevent disillusionment, to a certain extent. Family members, management, & lethal co-workers may all conspire to disrupt your exhausted musings after your shifts. Advance knowledge may prevent unrealistic expectations.

Specializes in Anesthesia, ICU, PCU.

What is this some pre-employment essay?

sjalv

897 Posts

Specializes in CVICU.
Best of luck to you. I hope and pray that you will find a position/facility that supports you and allows you to feel that you did make a difference that day.

In the interim, please read more threads here from new grads initially encountering the real world of nursing. Education may prevent disillusionment, to a certain extent. Family members, management, & lethal co-workers may all conspire to disrupt your exhausted musings after your shifts. Advance knowledge may prevent unrealistic expectations.

Hey, thanks for the encouragement. I have actually been a member of AllNurses since I was even accepted into nursing school, and haven't conveniently skipped over the negative threads (of which there are many). I do understand, however, that people come to the Internet to vent way more often than to tell others about the positive ongoings in their life and career. Notice my post didn't only highlight positive aspects and expectations, but negative ones too.

sjalv

897 Posts

Specializes in CVICU.
What is this some pre-employment essay?

Hi. I can't help but feel your words might be intended to mock me. Can you clarify? To answer your question: no, it isn't. This was actually something I posted on Facebook a few weeks back and felt like sharing.

roser13, ASN, RN

6,504 Posts

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Hey, thanks for the encouragement. I have actually been a member of AllNurses since I was even accepted into nursing school, and haven't conveniently skipped over the negative threads (of which there are many). I do understand, however, that people come to the Internet to vent way more often than to tell others about the positive ongoings in their life and career. Notice my post didn't only highlight positive aspects and expectations, but negative ones too.

You display attributes that will serve you well. Truly, I wish you the best. Please come back to ask questions when the reality of nursing practice stumps you.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide

VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN

22 Articles; 9,987 Posts

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

There is nothing in your post to pick apart. I hope you're able to maintain this view once you've been a nurse for awhile. Nursing needs its idealists; we can't all be cynical and jaded, or we lose the heart of the profession. You certainly seem to have the passion that you need to survive---and thrive. May it always be so. :)

"going home after every shift and thinking, as I lie down exhausted from working 12+ hours straight, about how many lives I positively affected that day, and how many people will never forget the way I cared for them. "

Beautifully felt and expressed. Most nurses began their careers with your exact sentiments.

It is the ideal that honest and caring hearts ascribe to.

Sadly.. corporate America will squelch your idealsim. It's all about the money.. honey.

I truly wish .. it changes within your generation.

babaloo8

1 Article; 41 Posts

Beautifully written my soon-to-be fellow nurse. You will carve out your own career path and hopefully land sooner than later in a spot that is both challenging and rewarding. It takes time to establish yourself in your career, just as it does in most other professions.

Best wishes!

chiandre

237 Posts

Specializes in EDUCATION;HOMECARE;MATERNAL-CHILD; PSYCH.

You make me fall in love with nursing all over again. Thank you! Yes, nursing profession is what you make of it!!

Specializes in SICU.

... I give you 2 months on the floor as a RN to get jaded like the rest of us! the days of florence are over, the bottom line is money!

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