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The best part of nursing is observing other nurses. I've seen the best and the worst of health care, and lost friends and family to the worst. It helps me push forward as a patient advocate and always put the patient first -- so that when I do get a card (oh the one in a thousand patient) or a hug, or a handshake....It's just awesome! I know that I'm always striving to be as good as the best nurses that comforted me during some of the worst times in my life (when dealing with the loss/decline of said friends and family) I always remember how the best ones comforted me when i was hysterical and crying over the previous decade(s) and keep that near and dear when I feel burnt out or hopeless. Plus, I enjoy being told I have more personality than the tin-can who last came to the bed side. Patients get pretty darn creative in the ways they complement a good nurse =) Put them first and it's fun to feed on it every now and then when your energy is waning!
For me the best thing in nursing is being in a position whereby you can help people and make a difference. I work as a psych nurse and often see people in all states of distress. Its one of the best feelings when they walk out the door, their condition under control and feeling that their hope has been restored and they feel equiped to take a hold back on their life. Being a part of this is amazing.
As a nurse, we're the person in contact most with people and this is great. While it is a hard job and when youre tired youre really tired but at the end of the day, you cant beat helping people. One of the first things I noticed when I started nursing was that I came home I would think "I actually never knew what they meant when they said being satisfied by your job until now". For me, its the best job in the world.
There are many things that are beautiful in nursing:
1. Seeing a very sick patient get well enough to go home and be with his family again.
2. Seeing the peace in an MS patient's eyes when you get them finally "comfortable".
3. Watching a confused patient sleep soundly.
4. Seeing the smile on a patient's face and hearing "I am glad to see you" when you come back to work the next day.
5. Getting the pain/nausea under control when someone is suffering.
6. Connecting a patient to resources they desperately needed (i.e. affordable medications).
Recently I had a patient with a stroke who couldn't communicate. She was definitely very lucid at times but got very overwhelmed. Two techs and her husband were attempting to corral her back to bed and she was getting very aggitated. She keep looking at them and yelling "na na na na na na!". I walked up, took her hand and told her everything was going to be ok. She looked to me, put her head down and inched over to my side. There she gently put her head on my shoulder and let me walk her back to her room. Everyone teased me because she drooled down the front of my scrubs, but I thought it was a beautiful moment, and her husband told me "I was just the right medicine for her."
It is all how you look at it, what you appreciate, and what you can accept as human nature.
Best of luck!
Tait
When pt's families still remember you as the nurse that took care of a dying family member months later. They tell you that it was your caring and concern that got them through the moment and then they give you a big hug in the middle of the grocery store.
It's times like this that make missing lunch bearable, and make me get out of bed the next day and do it all again.
It is a job with purpose and meaning.
smily11
37 Posts
Hi
am new in the nursing field and am so excited but since a have chosen this major all that i hear is that nursing is hard and tiring and after a couple of years the nurse gets bored from this job
, but i don't listen to them and l insist into cotinuing in my studying .so if you can tell me the most beautiful event in your nursing life......
thank you:nurse::heartbeat