Something I Wanted to Share

[AICU RN]

i got to feed my patient today.

it may sound really unexciting but believe me it made my day. see, like a lot of other nurses' aides i spent my days wishing the day would come when i would be the nurse. when i would save lives and do things that really made a difference. sure, i would still have to do some "aide things" but they wouldn't be that important anymore because i would be the nurse. i mean, i would be doing all the cool stuff, so giving my patient food wouldn't really be a big deal, right? wrong.

i got to feed my patient today.

sometimes i think we lose sight of why we do what we do. sometimes the unresponsive lady in 404 becomes just a number and a diagnosis. but that's not who we are, that's not what nursing is. we know how much the little things count. we know the seemingly insignificant can actually make all the difference in the world.

i got to feed my patient today.

at the beginning of my shift, she only awakened to a sternal rub. she would not talk to you. she was in afib with rvr and her pressures were high. her calcium was really high. i turned a repositioned q1h just like we're supposed to. i talked to her even though she didn't talk back. i smiled at her even though she didn't smile back. but then, something wonderful happened to me.

i got to feed my patient today.

at noon, her iv aredia had finished. by 2 o'clock this woman was sitting up and looking at me. in a matter of a few hours she had converted back to nsr, her pressures had come down to normal and she was answering me appropiately. we were talking. she turned out to be a peach. i hadn't known it because she was the pretty much unresponsive patient in bed 6 when i started my shift. it was the coolest thing. i talked to her and she talked back. i smiled at her and she smiled back. then the doctors rounded and advanced her diet. they couldn't believe her progress.

i got to feed my patient today.

i haven't been a nurse very long and i'm naive to a lot of things. today, though, i knew why i had picked the profession and i did. today, i was proud of what we do. today, i couldn't have been happier to feed my patient.

susan

[donsterRN, ASN, BSN]

I am so happy for you and for your patient. Congratulations!

This is why we do what we do.

[Msleely212]

Great post. I have been a nurse for 4.5 years and I must admit your post means so much. The hussle and bussle of the floor really makes it difficult to spend quality time with our patients (which is what I truly love about nursing). When I get a moment to bathe a patient or feed them I just love it. We get to be human and interact with our patients. With all the new devices and treatments there is nothing that can ever replace true compassion, caring, and human touch. I understand your excitement. Don't let anyone take that away from you. True nursing is a gift that very few understand.

[campton]

This is great! Very inspiring to everyone

[DixieRedHead, ASN, RN]

I know exactly how you feel. I had this lol come into the ER. She and three other elderly siblings who "looked after each other" lived together. They were just barely keeping it together but that was their choice. It was very hot weather. She had on a brief that must have weighed five pounds. She was so hot and sweaty.

I just stripped her off, and gave her a bath. Not something usually done that much in the ER. She was so comfortable. She smelled good, and smiled the biggest smile in the world. I think sometimes we lose sight of the fact that "nurse" is not always a noun, sometimes it's a verb.

[leslie :-D]

that's what it's all about, susan.

thanks for the smile, your story warmed me.

leslie

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

Your post was wonderful!

I had two back-to-back shifts that were totally different. With the first one, I was (half) seriously ready to leave the profession. For the second one, I got to spend time cleaning up two nonverbal, total care patients--including washing their hair!--and toileting a lady who was insisting on no pain meds, although she had considerable pain with movement and managing to do it without hurting her. All of my patients rooms were tidy with the total cares' supplies organized and re-stocked for the next shift as both were isolation.

I felt like a nurse today, rather than a paper- and med-pusher.

We can go on and on about "saving lives," but sometimes being a nurse just means being able to leave a room of a stable patient and saying to yourself, "This is the way I would care for a family member."

[Merlyn]

Warning! Caring for your Patient could become Habit Forming. This behavior could lead to forgetting the almighty paper work. This in turn to scores of Paper Pushers in front offices not having enough paper to push. How could you.

Welcome back to nursing. Great Story.

[eagle78]

I am soo glad you shared this post. It is wonderful!!!

It always makes me feel good to see so many nurses on here who really understand what it means to be a nurse. Thanks for the inspiration, YOU ROCK!!!

[Traum-a-Rama]

I, too, enjoyed reading your heartwarming story Susan! Thanks for sharing :)

I felt the same way this weekend when we had a low census and I actually had the time to fully care for an elderly man who is usually not alert or oriented. After I got him all freshened up, he was smiling and singing gospel songs for the entire floor to hear...really made my day!!!

[AICU RN]

Thank you guys so much. I've been a long time lurker but this was my first post. I love AN. It is so awesome to be able to share my thoughts and feelings about the work I love with people who understand where I'm coming from.

I really appreciate your posts and I'm glad I could share. It's so easy to forget who we are and what we do in the middle of the drudgery, the paper-pushers and all the stress. That's why it's so great when you get those flashes of brilliance when nursing is a verb just like DixieRedHead said

And Merlyn, I plan on making it a habit.

Members of AN, you rock .

[runnergirl86, BSN, MSN]

It's such a wonderful feeling to be able to be hands on and truly make a difference for someone. Great story!