At my hospital, there has recently been a push for nurses to "go above and beyond" when providing patient care. They send out emails, put up little signs and posters, and will occasionally show up in the unit and ask people how we have gone above and beyond today. It has really rubbed me the wrong way. First, because it's ridiculous to set such an ambiguous standard. But mainly, it's because I think it is probably impossible for a nurse to actually do something that would be considered "above and beyond." Let me explain.
As nurses, we have an incredible amount of responsibility for our patients. We are responsible for providing infinite aspects of bedside care. We are responsible for providing emotional support for both patients and their families. We are responsible for providing education to each patient about his or her medical condition, medications, any necessary procedures, and instructions for after discharge. We are responsible for keeping them both safe and comfortable simultaneously. And, we are responsible for communicating with each patient's specialists, surgeon, nutritionist, respiratory therapist, PT/OT and whoever else, and coordinating care between all of these people. And of course there's more.
These responsibilities are all part of a standard nurse's job description. We are expected to do each and every one of these things for all of our patient's every shift, and if we leave just one of them out, we have fallen short, and can even get written up. This isn't me complaining about being too busy or having too much responsibility. I love my job, and enjoy the patient population I get to work with. But with all the different hats nurses wear, it seems to me like anything I do for my patients, no matter how difficult it is to accomplish, or how much time it takes, is just me doing my job.
Nurses can't go above and beyond when caring for their patients...it's like trying to travel at the speed of light!
Anyway, it's been grating on my nerves. Partly because it's coming from administrators who have either never taken care of patients, or haven't done it in decades. And partly because I'm being asked to meet an unattainable goal. Any thoughts?
If y'all have any "going above and beyond" examples, please share.
