Best and worst moments in medicine

GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN · May 2, 2012

it is so common to see on this site and from nurses face to face that they hate their job/the politics/the abuse/etc. and never would have chosen this as a career in the first place.

first of all, the politics, abuse, and individuals hating their job, happens in any given career. having said that, i went into nursing with my wide open eyes since i volunteered for awhile at my neighborhood facility. moreover, i acquired the knowledge that is wasn't going to be a glamorous career as they portrait it to be in those days. in addition, i'm a firm believer that what you make out of a nursing career is up to you the sky is the limit. on the other hand, to answer your question my most memorable moment in medicine was being able to assist in my first born child's birth that's number one. furthermore, my bad experience had to be when i lost my wife giving birth to our 3rd. child. unquestionably, i have no doubt that you'll be able to acquire your own memorabilia as you navigate through your chosen career whatever it turns out to be. wishing you the very best in all of your future endeavors...aloha~

mysonsmama · May 2, 2012

Gianto I am so sorry you had to go through that with your wife :'(

ladneylpn · May 2, 2012

It is so common to see on this site and from nurses face to face that they hate their job/the politics/the abuse/etc. and never would have chosen this as a career in the first place.
I am a pre-nursing student and hearing this is so disheartening but I hope it makes me all the wiser that nursing isn't rainbows and gum drops.
In your medical career, what was your most memorable moment? A good moment and/or a bad moment.

my most memorable and worse moment was in nursing school, we were in labor and delivery and we were inserting foley catheters!!! So when my turn came I had a migraine and I go to my patient and she is screaming (of course!!) and when I spread her legs the baby is crowning!!!! All I see is a babies head!!! I am not seeing the 1,2,3 the teach you nor am I seeing the "wink"!!! I look at my instructor in horror and she is whispering and pointing at the same time saying "It's right there"...so I get the foley inserted and went to the bathroom and puke my guts out!!!!!!!!! :loveya:

ladneylpn · May 2, 2012

Gianto I am sorry too, your story was very happy and very sad!! I bet you are a great nurse!

CathRN1957 · May 2, 2012

I went into nursing pretty much not knowing anything but not ever having thought of it as glamourous either. I did it because my dad was 50 and his heart was so bad they gave him 6 months to live and I had never felt so clueless. I wanted to learn and prayed he'd make it long enough that I could help. We did find him a doctor, in those days they were telling him his heart was so bad that he'd die on the operating table, but one doctor said "Then what's the problem? It either works or your dead anyway?" He had a 5 way bypass, in 1982 and just passed away this March, 2012. I've never regretted a moment of this career. I think everyone has complaints about work in any job, but being a nurse, well dad did drop dead on us in 1995 (sudden cardiac death), we were visiting him to celebrate my husbands graduating from LPN school and I had been an RN 10 years by then so we started CPR right away, he never lost a single brain cell, had an ICD put in and that day, that was worth it all.

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · May 3, 2012

One of my dad's good friends was in ICU for SOB/CP, rhythm all over the place (great guy, crappy heart -- and allergic to Amiodarone!), and he went into V-tach. I ran into the room, his eyes were rolling back in his head, he was going. I precordial thumped him, and broke the rhythm. Called the cardiologist, they did an emergency cath, and he had 2 occlusions and a 90% blockage, all of which they stented. Saw him at breakfast the other day, doing well.

To this day, he calls me "his" nurse, rubs his chest and tells everybody that I've got a H......... of a punch.

BostonTerrierLover, BSN, RN · May 3, 2012

Gitano, I had NO idea, I am soooooooo sorry to hear that!!!!!!

All I can say to OP is that yeah there are days that make me wish I would have put more time and thought into what I wanted to do the rest of my life, and that for what we put into it, most days we leave exhausted, and wired.

But then, some patient, or event will occur nothing short of miracle that you couldn't see coming from 5 minutes away that will set you glowing, and re-new every cell in your being. They are few, but I like to think that "X-Factor" is what keeps many in the Profession of Nursing Lifelong. I always felt it a calling, because some of the rewards I veiw as "Rewards," another might simply view as an observation. I like to see lightbulbs go off in patients. I also like when the patient you thought was "getting on your nerves, and demanding tooooo much of your time, how you sometimes kind of miss them when they go. And, How you change your views on life and mortality when faced with it EVERYDAY.

The biggest lesson I have learned from Nursing is- Your whole life could change in a split second and totally not look anything like what it resembled before. Every moment is a gift.

tokmom, BSN, RN · May 3, 2012

I too went in with eyes wide open. I was a CNA that was chewed out by ancient crusty old bats on a weekend basis, (when I worked). I then went and obtained my LPN and then RN.

My worst moments were knowing I made a stupid med error, or getting yelled at by an MD in front of everyone for something night shift did.

The best are always the patients that remember me months or years down the road. The ones that come back to the hospital and give me a hug to let me know that dad is doing well, or thank me for being there for them when their family member passed away. THESE are the reasons that make me go back to work on the bad days.