Tell me all the positive things about nursing

karenG · Mar 5, 2003

postive.............lots!

you make some great friends for a start-I have been a nurse for 24yrs and am still friends with the people I trained with!

(over here you also learn to drink and have fun!)

things that stay with me........the first baby I ever delivered- shes now 18! the look on her mums face as I handed her over! sharing peoples joy when something wonderful happens, and strangely, being there for them when they need me. crying with people and laughing with them. the absourd things that happen when you least expect them- like delivering a baby in a lift! or having to give an IM injection to a patient...........when they are fully clothed and standing in the street! that sounds terrible but you had to be there!! yep there are bad memories- like being on duty when we had the 'deptford fire'. a really bad house fire in which lots of young people lost their lives...........the smell of burnt flesh remains with me. BUT the good out weighs the bad and there is nothing else I would rather do!

we do daft things over here- once put a ward sister in full POP (from the hips down!) as a leaving present! she was not a happy bunny! students get send to other wards to ask for ' a long wait! or to theatre to ask for fallopian tubes! and they go and ask!!! sad but true! we have great parties- guess it helps make the work easier!

stick with it and make your own memories.

Karen

IndyGypsyNurse, BSN, RN · Mar 5, 2003

Hi, Karen, THANK YOU!!! Those are the kinds of things that I want to hear. Are you a Labor and Delivery Nurse? That is the area I know that I want to go into. Also I would love to go to England some day. I seem to be drawn to England for some reason. I love English movies/actors, I love the culture and humor, and the more laid back lifestyle. At least that is my impression of England. I would like to visit and find out myself. My heritage comes from England/Ireland/Germany so maybe that is the attraction. I would love to know more on what it is like my email is [email protected] if you would care to write me. Thank you Karen hope to hear more from you. And I hope to hear more stories like this from other nurses.

Peace and Sincerity

Adria

altomga, ADN, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, APRN · Mar 5, 2003

Adriadawn

Don't take it all wrong..this is just the perfect place to vent all the negatives..heaven knows my own family don't get it when I try to vent to them..

Anyway, there are lots of positive things....The special time a pt will grab your hand and tell you thank you

When you come back from having a few days off and the patient tells you they are so glad to see you working.....

Being able to care for the family as their loved one dies..and for them to give you a hug and say thank you for taking such good care of their mother/father....

Help to bring someone back from death...now that is an experience..

Having a pt go bad and having to tell the doctor what to do (ok, that just makes you feel good...LOL LOL)

Some of the best friends you'll ever meet are nurses....

Being able to have the time to comb a patients hair........

Not to long ago I took care of a vent dependent pt dying from cancer....young too.late 40's.....She always wore a faded blue bandana (she didn't have any hair left) One night I ask her during a conversation what her favorite color was.....she said pink and yellow..

two nights later I took her two pink bandanas with rhinestones and sequence and I told her she needed to add some color to herself:) She smiled so bright and kept saying thank you to me...

I didn't do for a thank you, but so she knew that she was thought of more than a dying patient....And mainly b/c I wanted to. The next night her family was there and I stopped by her room to say hello..she kept pointing at me smiling and the family asked if I was the one who gave the bandanas? They also smiled and said how nice that was.

Through all the negative things there are a lot of good things that you will never know until you nurse...I certainly can't tell you them all, just a few examples...

Good Luck!!

HeartRNJenn · Mar 6, 2003

I thought I better add to this...

-Helping a family make a tough decision by patiently explaining all sides of the story and having the patient's husband say to you "I will never forget you! Thank you for your friendship!"

-Helping patients see they have a lot of inner strength to make changes in their lives

-Being able to sit and listen to a patient, to talk with them, and have them go from starting the morning calling you an "incompetent little girl" to thanking you for helping them feel so much better

-Being able to answer questions for family and friends who have lots of health questions they don't dare ask their doctors

-Many many more things! Unfortunately, many of us use this board as a place to vent about the frustrating parts of our jobs because goodness knows our spouses long since gave up trying to understand nursing :)

Good Luck in your nursing career! It is all you make it.

-Jenn

zambezi, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2003

I am a new grad nurse, out of school since june02, work in ccu and i love it....i am lucky to work in a hospital where we work as a team...got "stuck" with night shift...didnt think that i would like it but its not bad...the night shift nurses are awesome...we have great teamwork on my unit and there are always people to help me if i have a question...there are so many good things about nursing..youll always have a job...lots of job/career choices...flexible works hours....meeting that patient that really touches your heart...seeing a patient take get better when it was iffy for awhile...seeing the gratefulness in a patients eyes when you are there for them...even if it is just to check in and say hi...in my unit we extubate patients after heart surgery and it is my favorite thing , we have to have them totally awake to make sure they pass their weanig parameters, not comfortable for the patient but i love being in there, talking them through it, having them squeeze my hand with that look in their eye, knowing that they are making progress...even comforting a family when a patient is not doing well is rewarding...i ran to my first code the other day in the hospital off of my unit, i was soo nervous but there was no one else in the unit available and ccu has to send one code team member...the patient didnt make it but it was rewarding for me to know that i could go and remember those things that i trained for in acls...nursing is a career that you never stop learning in, about the human body, working with others, and about yourself...there are positives and negatives with every career, and once you find something you love, you are the one that can make things positive for yourself....i often read about new grads not being supported, etc...i promise you it is not always like that, there are great places to work and wonderful nurses and doctors and others to work with...find a place that works for you, it may not come on the first try but it is out there, most of all follow your heart.

SmilingBluEyes · Mar 6, 2003

I find enormous reward in being part of the birth of a new child and family. I love touching people each day with kindness and caring. It's what I do. The rewards come in the way of the hugs, tears and thankyou's I get from the patients and their family members. It is honestly what keeps me in the profession.

sixes · Mar 6, 2003

Yes nurses are great friends and you will build your own memories.

Like delivering your first baby. I'd already had three of my own there is nothing like being the assistant instead of the pusher.

I think my most memerable was when I broke my leg I had to wait all night for surgery as it happen right after supper. I was placed in a ward with a lady Bessy W she was 101 and I had recently been her student nurse.Needless to say it was a night from H----. I was in great pain and recieving Morphine IV so I was very out of it. All I really remember was this elderly lady holding my hand through the night telling me it was ok she would take care of me like I took care of her. Bessy lived to be 104 and we were great friends.

DebsZoo · Mar 6, 2003

Originally posted by sixes
I think my most memerable was when I broke my leg I had to wait all night for surgery as it happen right after supper. I was placed in a ward with a lady Bessy W she was 101 and I had recently been her student nurse.Needless to say it was a night from H----. I was in great pain and recieving Morphine IV so I was very out of it. All I really remember was this elderly lady holding my hand through the night telling me it was ok she would take care of me like I took care of her. Bessy lived to be 104 and we were great friends.

Thank you for sharing this, sixes.............that was awesome and brought me to tears.

THIS is only one of the reasons I chose nursing

IndyGypsyNurse, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2003

I just wanted to thank everyone for their stories and I hope to hear more. I am going to print them out and keep them, and when I am stressing out and studying this fall( I have heard the actual nursing classes not prereqs are very hard ) I will pull out these stories and remember what I am doing all of this for! Thank You!

Adria

lab2004 · Jul 13, 2004

BUT the good out weighs the bad and there is nothing else I would rather do!

Thank you! I've seen a lot of posts of nurses who want to get out of nursing.

leslie :-D · Jul 13, 2004

I just wanted to thank everyone for their stories and I hope to hear more. I am going to print them out and keep them, and when I am stressing out and studying this fall( I have heard the actual nursing classes not prereqs are very hard ) I will pull out these stories and remember what I am doing all of this for! Thank You!
Adria

the first time your patient extends her hand to touch you, or to hug you, to thank you; the first time you see your patient cry because you did something seemingly trivial; the first time you can understand your patient's needs just by looking in their eyes, you will know why you became a nurse.