The moment when you know why you're a nurse

Nurses General Nursing

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I started the "bad death" thread, so let's flip the coin. We see a lot of terrible things, but we also facilitate a lot of good. What is your "I'm so glad I'm a nurse" moment?

I had one the other day, managing two vented pts. It was OT, a short shift, and both of my pts were fighting the vents. It became apparent that one was going bad, and in between managing the first pt, i was able to restart sedation, restart pressors, hang boluses, set up a cvp, and most importantly, sit down next to the patient's wife and give her a little hug. She could see things weren't going well, and I told her it was ok to cry, asked her what I could do for her, and talked to her. The patient died about six hours after my shift ended, and i'm so glad that I took the time to talk to her. I like to think that I made a little difference in the way she witnessed his passing.

Specializes in NICU.

I don't necessarily have 1 defining moment because I need lots of little moments to remind me why I am a nurse ;). I would have to say the top moments are when my patients make me laugh and when parents tell me they are glad that I am their baby's nurse :).

When I am the market, mall, etc, and I see people who are not well and I try and figure out what ails them.

Specializes in LTC.

I think it is when I get in my car at the end of a really long horrible shift and I am glad I helped someone today. It is really satisfying to my soul.

It is right before christmas, I just fed a little sweet alzheimers lady, ( advanced) I sing a few short verses of a carol, she bends toward me and gives me the sweetest little kiss on my cheek, and smiles so happy, so unexpected.. But it is those small moments that make all the hard work over the years so worth it. It is those moments I will remember long after they happen, and I hope forever.

I don't have one defining moment exactly, but lots of smaller ones. Since I work in a clinic we don't have lots of brushes with immediate death, but it does afford me an opportunity to connect with pts and hopefully avoid an avoidable brush with death.

I know I'm right where I'm supposed to be when pts tell me that I was really easy to talk or that I made them feel safe.

When I was a student on a clinical rotation, I was assigned my pt for the day and accompanied them to the OR and back to their room until it was time for me to go. When I went to say goodbye she grabbed my hand and thanked me for staying by her side all day and said that it had made it a little easier

Specializes in Critical Care.

to make a verrry long story short. We had a guy that fell off a bike, no not a motorcycle a bicycle...He ends up rupturing some portion of the (if i remember correctly) hepatic circulation or mesentery either way. They take him to the OR, couldn't fix him.. He crashes on the OR table, they wheel him up to the ICU to manage him...We hard pumping units of blood into every single IV there is. I think there was a DL CVC, a Cordis, an 18 and 16G PIV, along with pressure bags to force it all in FAST. We see blood coming from under the dressing from the ex lap, and his belly is ROCK hard, we said ohhh ****. The MD sayd "did that OR team go home yet?" they rush him back down to the OR call in vascular and another general surgeon and they end up finding the bleeder n saving this dudes lifes. In the end I recieved the NICEST most sincere letter ever, Thanking myself and the trauma MDs for saving her husbands life. That is why I do what I do.

Specializes in Med/Surg.

just a few days ago I was assisting a doc with an I&D of a head abscess in the patient's room. The patient was a 40 something year old female, visibly very nervous and crying. I held her hand, not knowing if she would be comfortable holding my hand or not but I wanted to comfort her. Took my hand away at one point to hand the doc something and after I did she reached for it right away again. Thats when I knew that even little things like holding a patient's hand makes a difference to them and I'm glad I could be there for her.

Specializes in pedi.

I am not a nurse yet...but I will be someday! I can tell you the day I decided it was my calling to be a nurse. My son was born 9.24.06, we did not know he was going to be born with any medical complications...however, he was. He was rushed to CHB and spent a month in the NICU. I had an emergency cesarean, so it was 3 days before I got to go see my baby boy. I spent all day, every day by his side...I watched the nurses with complete awe. They were responsible for each caring for 3 extremely sick babies. They kept my son alive, as well as taught me how to do the same. I spent the next 19 wonderful months caring for my baby boy until he passed away. He had a trach and a feeding tube, and while it was hard at times (he was admitted many times), it was the best thing ever. My little boy is my hero, and I cannot wait to be there for other families and sick children, the same way Connor's nurses were there for us. :nurse:

Specializes in LTC.

The days that I feel like I truly left a battlefield.

I'm beat tired, stressed and sometimes in tears.

I made it and I'm ready to come back and do it again.

Some may say this is insane behavior but I call it nursing.

:nurse:

I'm a student. The first time I realized nursing really was the right field for me was in my first semester during an OR rotation. The patient was waiting right outside the doors to the OR while they prepped the room for her. She was still coherent even though she'd been given some meds and was pretty anxious about that (and her surgery was for cancer, so that didn't help things either). I was asked to wait with her and I was able to calm her down by talking with her. She thanked me for waiting with her and it was pretty cool to feel like I made her day easier. I never expected to be any good at the touchy-feely part of nursing!

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