'I love my patients!'.

kcochrane · Mar 25, 2010

Yeah I love my patients and my job. It is just who I am and who I have been since I can remember. I am able to make attachments quickly. And my residents (when I worked in LTC) and my patients (now in acute) give so much to me. I can't explain it, but maybe I'm just weird. :)

It is a tough job, but I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile. I've had a lot of different jobs in my 47 years, but this one is my favorite.

I don't believe you have to love your patients or nursing to do a great job at it. You just have to be someone that cares about doing a good job.

loriangel14, RN · Mar 25, 2010

I can say that I generally thoroughly enjoy my patients. I may not "love" them on an individual basis but I love the type of patients that I care for and I do love my job. I work on a complex continuing care/physical rehab unit, and I take care of mostly seniors. I look forward to going to work and getting to know my patients is rewarding. Sometimes I am sorry when they go but I am glad they are able to return home.

Kidding with my patients and having fun with my coworkers makes the day go better. My favorite right now is a slightly confused fella that calls me "Doris". He is genuinely surprised every time I tell him I am not Doris. Also having grown up in the town where I work makes a difference. One of my patients today has a neice that I am casual friends with and this lady has known my Mom for years. Usually patients are delighted to recognize one or more of their nurses. I give as a nurse but some of the patient give back. I see spitely 90 year olds bounce back from broken hips with an attitide that would shame a much younger person it really puts things in perspective.

mustlovepoodles, RN · Mar 25, 2010

There have been jobs where I *did* love my patients, like the NICU where our babies would stay from 2-3 weeks to a year. I couldn't help falling in love with some of them. And there have been some jobs where I did not love my patients. I'm working as a school nurse now, in a little elementary school where all our families fall below the poverty line. There are some very needy families here and lots of social problems. But the kids are great. They are so polite and respectful. Sometimes they hug me and say "I love you nurse!" I really do love these kids.

I do not think you have to love nursing to be good at it. I certainly didn't love it at first. It was simply a way to support myself and be independent. Later I did begin to love my work, but that never extended to loving night shift, foot injuries, back injuries and sleep disorders. I have a love-hate relationship with nursing now. I love "being" a nurse, but I could never go back to the bedside. Too wearing. I don't need the headaches. I don't make nearly as much as a school nurse, but my day is delightful. Most days the worst thing that happens is someone vomits in the hall. I get to do diabetic teaching every day(I have 2 young diabetics.) I get to work with our special needs population. I get to soothe children who come to me afraid because they feel sick. And I give out a lot of ice packs. :clown: Ice fixes everything. And sometimes I have to advocate for children who are being abused.

If you're hating on your job, maybe it's time to find something you like better. That's the great thing about nursing--you can do a LOT of different things. You just have to dig around and find them.

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2010

I ove being a nurse. There are parts of it I hate but I come from a corporate background and my heart really is in what I do. I make a difference in my residents' lives even if some days I feel like I am shoveling sand against the tide.

Do I "love" my patients. No. But some of them love me, and I do feel a deep affection for some of them and compassion for all of them, even the ones who get on my last nerve. Okay, maybe not one of them.

Florence NightinFAIL, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2010

If you're hating on your job, maybe it's time to find something you like better. That's the great thing about nursing--you can do a LOT of different things. You just have to dig around and find them.

Thanks for your reply. But your quote is exactly what I'm talking about. Because I said that I don't 'love' nursing/patients does it mean that I automatically 'hate or dislike' it? Can't I be neutral?

RedhairedNurse, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2010

I like my job, can't say that I love it, that's a little too strong of a word.

I Love my daughter and I can't imagine comparing that 'Love' for my

daughter to that of my job.

If I didn't like my job, I think I'd be a pretty miserable person. I don't love

or dislike my patients. I take care of them and give them the upmost respect and compassion that I possibly can which is certainly not 'Love.'

juliaann · Mar 25, 2010

I throw around the word "love" a lot because it's my personality. I'm always saying I love my job, I love my nurses & docs, I love our patient demographic - do I always like them? - noooooo. I often complain about them to my husband. But overall, I'm a happy, cheerful person who enjoys going to work every day and "loves" all sorts of things. I also love sunsets, and will gladly volunteer that information. My love of sunsets is not equivalent at all to my love of my husband and parents and friends, but I'll use the same words and say it in the same tone...it's just the way I communicate. :/

maryam.youhanna · Mar 25, 2010

I read nurses' comments about Loving your Patients. I can relate to that when I was a student nurse working in the hospital. What drove me away from nursing altogether is how nurses treat other nurses. Some nurses refer to other nurses as 'girls'.And sometimes I would hear them giving report as "the girls will do the dressing". I do not like someone calling me the GIRL after all the effort I put in getting my RN license. And I do not like the hours and the unexpected workload in nursing and the politics with it too. I had a poor experience as a student nurse myself, which led me to have a different image of what nursing was all about. In the beginning I used to hate getting up early in the morining. Going to the unit, only to find out that someone change my assignment from previous day for their convenience. I would find some experienced nurses bossing me around, and had no empathy for new graduates. As time passedby, I was trying to find myself like nursing, and no matter how much I would push myself to believe that I am a nurse and I like what I do, it would not work. Finally, I decided to have a career change. That did not work either, since I needed the money. The only option is left is to branch out from bedside to administrative position in nursing. Or if that does not work, is to be elementary school nurse. I do not know how to be school nurse. I wish I could fall in love with nursing, but since the day of my graduation in year 2004, I am searching to like something in nursing, so far NOTHING interest me. But I love to serve people in the community. I believe whether we are a nurse or not, we need to reach out to help people and put a smile on their face. That is what makes me to go on and not to give up. Thank you.

elizabeth321 · Mar 25, 2010

I do not love my patients on any level. I do on the other hand have a nurse/patient relationship that is appropriate in my mind. I am never over familiar with my patients or their caregivers, I am empathetic, supportive and treat all patients as I would treat my own family if they were ill.

I have the best job in the world and I get up everyday looking forward to going to work. I have lots of autonomy and expertise in the specific field of outpatient geriatric nursing with a sprinkling of ER nursing to keep up my clinical skills.

Through the years I have seen it as my responsibility to stay current in practice and procedure, to move on to other types of work when the time was right and take personal responsibility to ensure I am doing the best job everyday.

I have had the same work ethic my entire life...from babysitter as a teenager, to housekeeper, to server to nurse. Sadly I don't think work ethic, critical thinking or professionalism can be taught.

Bill E. Rubin · Mar 25, 2010

Like SueSquatch, I come from a long career in the corporate world, so any disillusionment I've had has ocurred a long time ago. As such, my expectations may be different than some. I find my work meaningful (something I didn't often feel in the corporate world) though many days/nights it is... well... work and meaningful or not, I would rather be spending the time at home with my family. But as a means to make a living that I can actually support myself with, I like it. I like the hospital where I work and the way that nursing is represented near the top of management and as such, stupid management edicts that show a lack of respect for nurses generally don't happen. I also have pride in working at my institution and the care given here, its reputation internationally and unabashedly wear t-shirts sporting the logo of my hospital, etc (I'm such a geek).

I deal with a very challenging patient population on my floor with some serious psychosocial issues (those of you who work on general "house" medical units at large urban teaching hospitals know what I mean by that), many of my pts are hard to love. Yet due to my varied life experiences, I am able to connect with patients from a wide variety of backgrounds and most of the time my patients like and trust me.

I get along well with most of my colleagues on my unit, and really like some of them, though I wouldn't say I have any actual friends here. I have told patients (and meant it) that I would trust my life in the hands of any of my fellow nurses.

So, to the OP, I don't know... it all depends on your expectations. I like my job, as jobs that pay the bills go. I sometimes love it, and I am proud to do what I do and proud of where I do it. If I could only find a way to do it about once or twice a week and still make a full-time salary, then I would be truly in love with my job. :jester: If anyone can figure out how to do that, let me know.

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2010

Because I said that I don't 'love' nursing/patients does it mean that I automatically 'hate or dislike' it? Can't I be neutral?

Yes, I think most people in most professions are, to some degree, neutral about their jobs. I have not met many mechanics, accountants, or sales people who are madly in love with their job or their customers. It is not expected. Most will either simply tolerate or maybe enjoy their jobs, many fall somewhere in between that. For some reason that I do not totally understand, nurses are expected to be in love with the profession, with their patients, and be perfectly willing to do it for free. It seems socially unacceptable for someone to consider nursing their job, and not their "calling" or "mission" in life. I totally disagree with this mentality. Few of us would do this for free. I know for a fact that if I won the lottery I would not continue working full time!

However, as another school nurse, I have to say that I am very fond of my kiddos (OK, most of them :) ) and I do, as do most teachers and other school workers express this fondness as "love" for "their" students. It is hard not to love these funny, sweet, and challenging little people!