In another thread, a discussion regarding the stimulus for entering the nursing profession was taking place. Daisy4RN said, "I was a candy striper, add to that the childbirth experience, and then when my mom had leukemia, all those together were what propelled me in the nursing direction, and later when the time was right I acted on that!"
I responded with, "Does it seem yo you, Daisy, in your nursing career, those nurses who had a rather involved background history in the nursing field worked more gracefully as a nurse? Such as you, with your candy striping experience and your Mom's illness?
I think of Eleanor, my work wife, who had close family members who suffered from some relatively severe mental illness diagnoses. She is an extraordinary psych nurse.
And of course, I include myself, as a 19 year old, confined to bed due to multiple injuries and having to lie in my own waste for an extended amount of time before receiving hygienic measures. I took a First Aid course thereafter, got certified in CPR, got my EMT and worked with the volunteer emergency corps before getting into nursing.
Empathy and adaptation goes a long way."
I thought about the line, "Empathy and adaptation" as applied to entering and working in the nursing field and wondered if any other nurses see a pattern with this? Do the newbies struggle more when their only experience is the nursing program? Do those with personal experience with trauma fare better? How do those without personal or prior experience acclimate and become good nurses?
Specializes in Community and Public Health, Addictions Nursing.
January 26 will be my 11 year anniversary of starting work as an RN, and all week I've been doing my usual annual reflecting of where I was, where I am, and where the heck am I going?! This post is hitting home today.
I decided to become a nurse in high school with no real reasoning other than I loved the show M*A*S*H, I liked helping my dad pick out the metal shavings from his skin when he'd come home from work, and I liked the variety that came with nursing. I don't think empathy was really playing into my 16 year old decision-making.
I certainly made my share of mistakes as I grew into my career, but I think it was my willingness to learn, my attention to the work at hand, and technical skills that built my nursing foundation. My own personal history, however, has built my nursing expertise. As time has gone on, I've turned my career into one that works with high risk individuals, and without that personal piece I don't think I would have gone in this direction.
My life experiences are a blessing and a curse, though. Do I work as hard as I do at my job because of the empathy I feel for my patients, or because my childhood was frequently one of people-pleasing and staying out of the way of grown ups? Do I prioritize my patients' needs the way I do because of my critical thinking skills, or because personal relationships have created certain biases within myself? Am I genuinely caring about my patients' lives, or am I also processing my own personal grief and emotions when something happens to one of my patients?
I think I'm entering the next phase of my career where I learn to keep my own knowledge and experiences in check, and temper that with an open mind for the patient who's sitting in front of me. If I want to avoid burnout and leaving this profession altogether, I think this is going to be a necessary step to take.
"Sometimes, it can make us less empathetic with minor things" stood out for me, for I hadn't considered the flipside of experience and a history dealing with trauma as causing us to be less empathetic when I initiated this thread.
There's a lot of truth in that statement that I can see in myself. I've needed to remind myself, "Look, Dave, this patient or nurse has not had the same experiences- or support- that you've had, so go easy on them!
I think it’s important to be honest with ourselves and what our faults and strengths are. I admit I am extremely empathetic when I see someone going through something that I can identify with - I want to spend more time and be able to offer something to encourage that person or patient. However, I also admit that sometimes I feel emotions that I just don’t like in myself when there is a situation that I perceive as silly or petty.....but everyone experiences things at different times in life. One thing I have to remind myself that I experienced a life changing event at a very early age and it changed part of me permanently. And that’s OK - I can’t expect myself to be the exact same person that I was before.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
speedynurse said:
Lately, as I have had more struggles with my health again...
It has given me more empathy for my patients.
Daisy4RN said:
When we encounter personal trauma we react by becoming more resilient or becoming bitter
In a nutshell, Speedy and Daisy's premises can be summed up with the statement: Trials and tribulations, difficulties, have the potential ability to raise our consciousness and, in essence, make us more empathetic, resilient beings.
If we have walked a mile in another's shoes, we can more easily see things from their perspective be more patient, less critical of them, and expend less psyche energy, as nurses, in providing care for them.
Recently, I was advised by someone who knew me not to place myself in the other's shoes.
As nurses educating patients, we are to first gain baseline knowledge, then expand upon that knowledge. The advising entity in this situation obviously had no idea of my baseline knowledge and the statement was received as an insincere platitude.
In utilizing the advising entity's method, I could easily advise Daisy to stop being bitter because she'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
In experiencing both physical and psychological pain, we can better be able empathise with those we serve. Otherwise, if we have a vague to no point of reference, and can end up providing care and expressing ourselves without empathy or feeling.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
On 1/20/2021 at 1:26 PM, speedynurse said:
I think my supposed "burnout" happened a lot faster in the ER than many of my peers because of my personal history and when I did make mistakes or when there were safety events, I took it a lot more personally and to heart when some of my peers would have just shrugged and blown it off as something they couldn't help.
Interesting points, Speedy.
The word burnout is a common one in these threads which causes me to wonder if another is the situation actually burnout. Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress occurring when one feels overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. Is the state truly burnout, or is it merely a wake up call for us to learn and implement methods that will assist us in dealing with the stress?
I must tip my hat to you, Speedy, for your use of the qualifying "supposed" which means to generally assumed or believed to be the case, but not necessarily so.
Your choice of words shows great insight and a willingness to be open for growth.
What also shows insight and a willingness for growth is the fact that self-examination is in progress. Noting how others react to similar situations and examining how we respond is a healthy method of gaining an alternative perspective.
UrbanHealthRN, BSN, RN
243 Posts
January 26 will be my 11 year anniversary of starting work as an RN, and all week I've been doing my usual annual reflecting of where I was, where I am, and where the heck am I going?! This post is hitting home today.
I decided to become a nurse in high school with no real reasoning other than I loved the show M*A*S*H, I liked helping my dad pick out the metal shavings from his skin when he'd come home from work, and I liked the variety that came with nursing. I don't think empathy was really playing into my 16 year old decision-making.
I certainly made my share of mistakes as I grew into my career, but I think it was my willingness to learn, my attention to the work at hand, and technical skills that built my nursing foundation. My own personal history, however, has built my nursing expertise. As time has gone on, I've turned my career into one that works with high risk individuals, and without that personal piece I don't think I would have gone in this direction.
My life experiences are a blessing and a curse, though. Do I work as hard as I do at my job because of the empathy I feel for my patients, or because my childhood was frequently one of people-pleasing and staying out of the way of grown ups? Do I prioritize my patients' needs the way I do because of my critical thinking skills, or because personal relationships have created certain biases within myself? Am I genuinely caring about my patients' lives, or am I also processing my own personal grief and emotions when something happens to one of my patients?
I think I'm entering the next phase of my career where I learn to keep my own knowledge and experiences in check, and temper that with an open mind for the patient who's sitting in front of me. If I want to avoid burnout and leaving this profession altogether, I think this is going to be a necessary step to take.