OK, we've weighed in on what we HATE to do at work........now, what do you actually LIKE to do? (Besides make money, of course...)
One of my favorite tasks is, of all things, taking care of post-op patients. I enjoy meeting them, finding out about their surgery, and making them as comfortable as possible, which is often quite a challenge! I also love to see them get better day by day until they're finally ready to go home. They are usually very appreciative of the care they receive, and sometimes I'll run into a former patient in town and they'll say "Oh, I know you, you're that nice nurse who took such good care of me!" Some patients come in for repeated surgeries, and we get to know each other over time....I really enjoy these patients, as opposed to the frequent-flyer medical patients who keep landing in the hospital because of bad lifestyles, addiction, and plain old stupidity (we have one young fellow who comes in roughly every couple of months in hypertensive crisis, who STILL doesn't get it that alcohol and meth are not his friends).
I also really like starting IVs---the more challenging, the better---and precepting students. I've currently got a gaggle of first-year folks who've taken to following me around the floor like little ducks, and I love it! They keep me on my toes, and I find I'm a better nurse when I have to serve as an example. :)
It might sound silly, but I love doing case management! I think it is a very challenging field. So many rules with medicare, medicaid, and insurance co. Been doing bedside nursing for a while, kind of burnt! I'm looking into going back to school...however,:) I don't have the time to go to school with 2 babies now, so learning/doing case managment, I learn something new everyday!
I love recovering CABG's....fast paced and exciting....IV starts, ABG's, cardiac outputs.......why can't management just stay outta my way and let me enjoy the job?....it's a shame what ya have to put up with, to do what you love to do....makes me hate what i do.....
I like the emotional satisfaction I get at work the best, I think. I actually like having to balance providing emotional support to families at the same time that I'm providing critical care to their infants. Following a baby through his NICU admission, sharing the highs and lows with his parents...then seeing that baby go home...and having the parents send pictures, birthday party invitations, Christmas cards, etc. It makes me realize just how much of an impact I'm having on these families, and makes me so proud to be a nurse.
I just love reading these! I LOVED my clinicals in NICU and I'm really thinking about doing my preceptorship there in a few months. And reading the last 2 posts really confirms that it's what I want to do :)
Specializes in Assisted Living nursing, LTC/SNF nursing.
If time allows, I love sitting with a Pt. that is having an emotional hard time with dx, teaching them about it, listening to them (even through the tears), and providing comfort and spiritual comfort also. I find most Pt's can be strong in front of family but when they are alone, that is the time to be there so they can grieve. I also love to watch the difficult Pt.'s health improve and provide care. It is mind boggling on how a shift will report of how a certain Pt. was so difficult to deal with and when I work with them, I just can't see what the problem was. Must be a personality conflict, I suppose.
I love the 1:1 I get with the families. Its an honor to have their loved one in my care. I also love to teach student nurses. They are so eager, so willing and sometimes bring a laugh when all seems lost mid shift. Teaching students for me is not an annoyance, as I find some of my co workers are not as enthralled...It is a joy to see the light bulb, or to let them practice in front of someone less intimadating than their teacher!
fluffwad
262 Posts
Its one of my secret joys to tease the administrator. Poor sap.....he's 34 and surrounded by 40 & 50 yr old women! hee hee