Moments of reflection...

So the other day I was in the middle of packing a terrible sacral wound on an unfortunate old soul brought in due to said wound not healing. And just had one of those moments where you look back on your life and think to yourself "how did I end up doing this for a living?"

My best friends are teachers, in IT, or sales and here I am packing a fist sized tunneling wound from epidermis to sacral bone exposure just like another day at the office...

Anyone else have these moments with some of the stuff we do/see at work? It always cracks me up inside.

One thing I have realized being a Nurse. No one ever, EVER asks what you did at work the other day.

We are a special group.

[luvihs]

Not only that but most of the time, my friends ask me NOT to tell them what I did at work.

[JustKeepSmiling, ADN, BSN, RN]

I've had those moments. Especially while said patient is screaming at me.

Then I have the patients I successfully extubate and wean off gtts and feel like I'm making a difference.

[bas22]

Yep, sure do. Just the other day i was asking a patient with a possible SBO to describe their last BM in detail to me: was it it solid or sort of 'ribbon like'? I thought to myself, never in a million years would I have imagined I'd be interrogating a complete stranger about their poop!

[IsabelK]

Every day---never intended to be a nurse much less an NP. Never intended to get a doctorate in nursing.

My favorite moments are when I'm sitting in the office doing a physical exam with a very demented person who can't remember the present but can tell me about the time he or she heard about the first airplane. I get to take care of people and hear living history...

[Chaya, ASN, RN]

I amuse myself by mentally composing the section of the job description for what I am actually doing ( irrigate purulent drainage from fist sized wound, pack with absorbant dressing material...)

[alaskansunbeam]

I often think this as I am strapping my patient to a bed...