Hard Truth spin off

[Libby1987]

I've been thinking about that thread and whether or not we knew how we'd react to our assigned work and I wondered how others might view the different aspects of nursing.

First, I went to school at a time when primary care was dallied about. For those who might not be familiar, it's a nursing model where RNs assumed the total care of their patients from high to low tech, and IIRC it was also intended to phase out LVNs and CNAs. Anyone remember this? I went into HHC a year after graduation so I don't know how it played out.

The other thing re what an RN should be doing, or likes to do...I don't know about anyone else but I don't actually enjoy or get satisfaction out of tasks just because they require the education of an RN. I don't *enjoy* hanging IV's or the like. Or making phone calls or inserting catheters. None of those tasks are any more above the line than anything else.

What I do enjoy is the being part of something that has a good outcome, with a good outcome covering a broad list of wins. It can be a healed complicated wound, good pain mgmt, regular bowel motility, independent disease mgmt, clear lungs, eased anxiety..the list is limitless. And people, I enjoy the interaction.

It doesn't matter really how that's accomplished or the specific task I performed, it's the going home at the end of the day having made a difference for someone's better no matter how small.

On the flip side, I have gone home feeling defeated regardless of the skilled tasks I performed. I'm sure we all have.

Specifically to cleaning up poop, as if anyone is going to pay my wages for that to be a major part of my responsibility, you know that feeling at the end of a busy day and even more chaotic evening at home and getting your clean shiny kids into cozy jammies and tucking them into soft sheets? That's the closest feeling I can come up with to describe how it feels when I've provided personal care to someone confined to bed for whatever reason. They're so dependent on someone to care, that's what allows me to deal with poop when I don't like it anymore than anyone else. IOW, it's not about the poop, it's about what I was able to accomplish.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Had I known what I was getting into forty years ago, I might not have gotten into it. And that would have been a mistake (probably). I wouldn't go back and change things for anything. I've had an interesting, exciting, challenging career where I use my brain every hour of every day and where I get to actually make a difference. I've had a nice life with a flexible schedule, nice vacations, a reliable car and a nice place to live. I met my husband at work, and many of my best friends are former co-workers. It used to be that "working holidays" was a nice way to get out of family dinners that I wanted to avoid . . . even sometimes when I wasn't actually working the holiday. And Santa always made it to my house, even if it was early (like December 17) or late (like January 1).

I don't particularly enjoy cleaning up poop, but it's a part of the job. I didn't really like cleaning the barn when I was a kid, either. It still had to be done.

Anyone who says they're at the bedside, cleaning up poop all day and never engaging their brain isn't doing it right. Maybe they don't belong in nursing. I'm sorry for anyone who is as unhappy as the OP in that thread, because more education isn't going to make them any happier. Happiness comes from wanting what you have, not from having what you want.