YOU come first

Many years ago, a woman I worked with said "caregivers should take care of themselves first. If they don't, then who will give the care?"

Please think about this! So many of the threads/discussions are about our guilty feelings about placing ourselves first.

YOU COME FIRST. Sore back - take care of it. If you don't, you may end up with a debilitating injury.

YOU COME FIRST. Pregnancy issues - do not feel guilty about enforced bed rest, needing to be off earlier than expected, or staying out longer.

YOU COME FIRST. Fever? Sore throat? Bad cough? Stay home - do not pass this on to your patients or peers.

YOU COME FIRST. Pt in isolation? PROTECT YOURSELF!!!! Wear all the PPE you should.

YOU COME FIRST. Do not recap used needles. You can't possibly know what that pt has been recently exposed to, why risk giving it to yourself. For people who think this is 'anal', well, they haven't stuck themselves yet, gone thru the embarrasment of telling on yourself, incident reports, blood work, having to ask permission from the pt to do HIV/Hepatitis testing, waiting for the results. And don't think it won't happen. It will.

YOU COME FIRST. Refuse the inappropriate assignment, and document it. If forced to work, take a blank piece of paper, write down your objections, write down who you told about it, date it, sign it. Make copies on the spot. Attempt to give one to the highest level superior on duty at the time. If this is a repeated issue, send copies to the DON, CEO, Hospital Board, ethics committee.

Please, please, take this to heart. YOU COME FIRST. Then those you live with. Then the patients.

BTW, that woman was the head nurse of the local volunteer ambulance squad. It was working with the ambulance squad that led me to going to nursing school. And I kept volunteering all during nursing school, and many years beyond.