Is There Really Life for a Nurse Outside of the Four Walls of a Hospital?

daniellerushRN

Each shift, I feel the dam of my nursing resilience starts to crack. It leaks saltiness and frustration, indifference, and annoyance. These cracks can be deadly for a nurse; a love of nursing lost. A change is needed before the dam gives way to the flood that burn out is.

The healthcare heroes of 2020 are in a crisis, and I know that I am not the only one. Chronically short staffing, overworked hours and lack of appreciation are just some of the culprits.

I ask myself, what do I love most about nursing? What is my most valued role as a nurse? Is bedside nursing the only option? After all, I have worked for, would I be selling myself short as a nurse working somewhere other than the bedside? Is there really life for a nurse outside of the four walls of a hospital?

To me, one of the primary tenants of nursing is acting as a patient advocate, an ally during a significant time of need, support, and counsel. An advocate's responsibility is to ensure that the patient comprehends all that surrounds them, from diagnosis to available resources. At the foundation of patient advocacy is patient education. This is one of the many, albeit the most important hats that a nurse wears.

So how do I blend the value of patient education, a love of nursing, and my own personal desire to continually learn? I've discovered a surprisingly simple answer. Writing, full stop. Writing as a nurse with my valued credentials, hard-earned degree, and even harder-earned experiences. Additionally, writing satisfies a wish to move out of the large hospital system that can many times feel more like a "sickcare" industry than a healthcare industry. Writing will afford me the ability to be a true purveyor of health and not just a bystander in another patient's chronic illness story. Through writing, I can educate and inspire not just the patient sitting beside me, but a larger audience seeking advice and guidance. And then there will be the nursing love. That moment when a patient's eyes brighten with some new information or understanding, the genuine gratitude in their voice when they thank you for helping them. In writing, these satisfying moments may be over a computer screen, but I have comfort in knowing that they will be there just the same. A job well done and worth doing.

My mental fortitude and resilience were forged in nursing school. My credentials are a testament to this. Nursing requires critical thinking, adaptability, attention to detail, listening, and responding. All of these characteristics do, in fact, translate into job qualifications for writing. The transition is more seamless than I could have imagined. Writing fulfills my yearning to learn and share. It allows me to continually seek knowledge in my passions, my interest areas and beyond.

It cannot go without mentioning that a career as a nurse writer can result in a much-improved work-life balance. With a young family, I need this now more than ever. I am determined that gone will be the days that I return home from a night shift, ragged with the emotional and physical weight of the night, only to have to pour into my family whatever pieces are left. I am determined that gone will be the days that I need to leave the disappointed faces on Christmas or the forlorn face of my husband, children at his ankles, beckoning me not to leave. Yes, I will do this. There is, in fact, life for a nurse outside of the four walls of a hospital.

Is There Really Life for a Nurse Outside of the Four Walls of a Hospital?

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