Real Nursing

Great post Angie. You say so well something I try to teach all our employees...all nurses are educators even if it doesn't SAY educator on your badge! We all do it in large ways and small ways every day, we just don't often get (take?) credit for it.

I totally agree with you. It's the things that set us apart as nurses and the impact we can have on patients and their families. With shorter hospital stays, constant time constraints it makes it more difficult for us to do teaching. It's one thing I miss about the "old days" when I worked telemetry and LOS for MIs was 10 days. You could get a lot of education done in that time and hopefully made a difference in risk factor modification. I felt like I was able to do more teaching back then than I do now.

Still, I do as much as I can. Sad that they worry more about "the little boxes" being filled in and not the fact that we can help directly impact our patients understanding of their process/

Thanks for that post Every year I am told to work on organizing my work to eliminate overtime. But when I go home every day I can sleep at night because I know I've done everything I needed to do for my patient. It's nice to know that other nurses feel the same way as I do.

Angio, thanks for sharing your experience. Kudos for making a difference in your patients life!

Great patient education is an extremely valuable asset for a nurse to possess in her bag of tricks. To bad it's not measurable by the bean counters standards.

Thank you for the post. As a school nurse, sometimes it is perceived that I am not a real nurse because I no longer start IV's, do tube feedings, or even wear scrubs.

Tell that to the family I spent 2 weeks working with and educating their adolescent on her need to take her Advair as prescribed - she hasn't had to use her rescue inhaler once when I finally got her to understand.

Tell that to the little boy who told me he had not been able to see "for years". I found the free services and hounded his parents until they took him. His grades have improved and he now smiles much more!

Tell that to the 14 year old student who I spent 3 hours on the phone making arrangements for her to go somewhere to detox from her 2 year heroin habit.

What is "real nursing" or a "real nurse"????? I think it is being a patient advocate and that can encompass MANY different interventions!!!

I love educating my patients. Nursing is sooooo much more than passing pills and unfortunately too many shifts are consumed away by passing pills and chasing after docs to get orders. I love home health and hospice nursing because I can take the time to educate my patient's and their families. I'm currently working at a hospital and hope to be back into the field soon.

Very important

Thank you x 1,000!!!! As a new nurse, I am reassured by this thread. To elaborate, I work in a state hospital on a fast-paced trauma-surg floor. When I started 3 months ago I was told that 'real world' nursing is different from 'utopian/NCLEX world' nursing. And I have found that it is indeed different in many ways. BUT this story illustrates how it doesn't HAVE to be 'different' all the time. I realize that time management skills are crucial to being competent in regards to pt care, policy and standards. I have been told sooooo many times by the experienced nurses that I spend too much time in my patients rooms; that I need to cut back/there simply isn't enough time for bedside visits. I clock out late every shift. I am sometimes torn between being competent in the sense of getting everything done on time (meds, interventions, charting, etc.) and being a 'real nurse'.

I know I have a lot to learn and there has to be SOME degree of compromise at times. I know that experience will guide me in making decisions in prioritizing. However, I love teaching my patients. I love the feeling I get when I see the 'expected outcomes' and how it positively affects every aspect of my pts care and well-being. I am reminded of the importance of holistic nursing every time. Yesterday I was wheeling one of my d/c'd pts to his waiting ride and was told that I was a great nurse and "they don't make them like you anymore." Wow! What a compliment! I've only been an RN (Real Nurse) for 3 months!!! I reflected back on my interactions with him. I realized that aside from the usual interventions (assessment, meds) just taking a few extra minutes to answer his questions in a way he could understand probably made the difference. He was s/p MVR pt. He was a very active older gentleman and was ready to get back to normal ADLs, etc. I explained to him that his was a pretty serious surgery so he may need to give hisself some time; you have to eat an elephant one bite at a time. As a matter of fact, I have been told by my patients that I spend more time with them than most other nurses. But they appreciate it. Apparently it has made the difference for them therefore I have accomplished what I set out to accomplish. And so far I feel good about what I do, however slow I may be. I am learning that sometimes I have to compromise efficiency for the sake of efficacy.

Thanks for the inspirational thread.

Thank you for reminding us one of the most important things in Nursing is educations. Things like charting, getting off on time, avoiding overtime is the "devil in the details." Sometimes the "detail devils" distract us from whats most important.