If you've ever cried at work...

questionsforall · Nov 20, 2009

I have cried at work many times (about once every three months my first year). I did not feel better though because I was made to feel bad from my coworkers who saw this as a weakness and still make fun of me because of it two years later and it is carried with me as a stigma.

I am so glad to hear that other people have expressed their emotions through tears. I know that if I saw one of my coworkers crying I would not look at them in a negative way.

I feel that sometimes tears show how much you really care. We are human and have human emotions and responses.

freefalr · Nov 20, 2009

i have cried many times. one tear, a few sniffles, weeping...the whole gamut. alone in the bathroom, with coworkers, with patients. i admit that i worry when i cry with patients that i'm somehow being unprofessional, not keeping proper boundaries or something.

...funny, i don't feel that way when i laugh with my patients. i don't worry at all, i just enjoy how good it feels.

if i get teary, i worry that my coworkers and boss will surmise that i'm on the verge of becoming unhinged and hold it against me.

most recently i cried when a patient shared the discovery that her daughter's boyfriend has been molesting her 8-year-old granddaughter. she was weeping. i had to just be there and try to comfort her & couldn't keep in my tears. i also cried in front of my coworkers after speaking with a patient's son. the patient has recently had a devastating stroke which left her with mental status changes & left hemiparesis, and is now in a nursing home. prior to this, she had been living independently, leading an active and engaged life. she was in a wheelchair, extremely anxious, pleading for me to call her son because he had promised he'd come and help her understand things. i called him and he sounded completely cold and uninterested, informed me that he was at a meeting at work, and hung up. i know i don't know the whole story, i don't know anything about their relationship, but i couldn't help it, it got to me.

i find myself on a daily basis dealing with many emotions in the workplace. i have to remind myself frequently not to let my personal feelings, biases, assumptions, ignorances get in the way of taking good care of my patients. i often wonder if this is indicative of some kind of personal deficiency or weakness. i pray that if i'm feeling negatively toward my patient for some reason, that they are never aware of this, that it is never reflected in my care or my demeanor.

the workdays that i don't feel emotionally stirred in one way or another (by patients, families, coworkers, admin, b.s., whatever), i think: well, this was a smooth and unremarkable day!

i care for cardiac patients. there is quite a bit of emotional expression. i recently "advocated" to get softer (read: more expensive) tissues for our patients for this very reason...and i'm proud to say we got them. one of my coworker nurses made fun of me for asking. it's a small, probably insignificant change...but...maybe it's just me, but when i'm crying, a rough tissue against my face feels like an insult, like sandpapery tp on a hurting and sensitive heinie. a soft tissue feels so comforting.

(my migrainin' self teared up a bit at my doctor's office today & was given a tissue. it worked just fine. it was not the caviar of tissues, but it did the trick.) :)

2bnursejacksonrn · Nov 22, 2009

Many times. Once with an end-stage renal pt, entire family and I hugged and cried. Recently in my ER with a nine-month old cardiac arrest (accidental suffocation). We were all crying.

oh sweet lord... :cry:

HeartsOpenWide, RN · Nov 22, 2009

. During my first fetal demise I got teary eyed and had to bite my lip when it was happening. After I got to my truck I fell apart for about 15 mins.

diane227, LPN, RN · Nov 22, 2009

Yes, when I found a dead baby left in a paper bag in the waiting room restroom.

teeniebert, LPN · Nov 22, 2009

diane227--I am so sorry you had to experience that.

diane227, LPN, RN · Nov 23, 2009

I was sorry too. This baby was just left there. On autopsy it was determined that the baby was stillborn which eased my sadness somewhat. When I first saw the baby, it appeared to me that the baby had been abused and I was just so taken aback. I just did not know what to do. But as it turned out, the body had started to decompose and the changes I was seeing were due to decomposition, not abuse. It was a horrible experience. I will never forget it. Having to put that unknown toe tag on that little body. Just a terrible experience. I was crying non stop.

shoegalRN, RN · Nov 23, 2009

I worked over the weekend and took care of a 27 y/o single mother who is going to lose her limbs. Although she was somewhat sedated, she followed commands and when asked if she knew what was going on, she nodded her head yes. She has a small daughter and it was so sad. There are pics of her and her daughter posted in her room. This pt is so beautiful, so is her daughter. When taking care of her, I teared up several times. When the mother was at the bedside praying and crying, I teared up and excused myself from the room. I held my tears for as long as I could. I cried in the bathroom.

Nursing is such an emotional job.

caffeineRx · Dec 4, 2009

I don't know how you guys hold it in. I'm a very emotional person. It literally takes everything in me to keep myself from crying. I just KNOW I will cry..and not just from the obvious sad stuff. I'm one of those sensitive people who is way too easily emotionally aroused. Some stress, lack of sleep, and mean people...I'll probably cry...at least after the 3rd day. I would just DIE if I cried in front of people. But I know it's going to happen. It's no secret that I'm an emotional person. I don't know if people are going to expect to see me crying.

I nearly cried in nursing class because I was so tired and my professor was getting on me about not taking the BP correctly. I just felt like I had no idea why I couldn't do something simple.