moments

[new gal]

What was some of your most humbling moments as a nurse, how did it change you as a person? I recently just finished up my first semester. My moments came not so much performing skills or missing something during an assessment, but mostly, communication. I learned so much simply from therapeutic communication, more than I thought I ever would.

[Davey Do]

What was some of your most humbling moments as a nurse, how did it change you as a person?

Ah! The trials and tribulations resulting in illuminating revelations which subsequently heighten our awareness of the reality of things!

I recently just finished up my first semester. My moments came not so much performing skills or missing something during an assessment, but mostly, communication. I learned so much simply from therapeutic communication, more than I thought I ever would.

Yes- fundamental communication is a necessary part in the continuous quality care of those we serve. How asuste of you, new gal, to experience this epiphany so early in your endeavor!

Being a psych nurse, I believe one big revelation I had was that most people just want to know they're heard and understood, which also has to do with communication. It wasn't really a humbling moment- it was just a coin dropping into the slot.

About 30 some years ago, when I was a psych LPN, a patient was up at the nurses station loudly complaining about one thing or the other. Staff were standing their ground, basically telling the patient that they were wrong in their perspective. The patient's behavior continued and I saw this tact was taking us nowhere. So I gave the patient some verbal listening: "You feel this way because..." and so on. The patient quieted down and basically said yes, I understood how they felt. I said something like "Well, we'll see what we can do about this" and the patient went on their way.

A CNA said, "That patient is going to believe that you agree with them!" I said that it didn't matter. The situation was dealt with- the patient began behaving appropriately and we didn't have to put up with their loudness.

Simple situation, but an illuminating revelation was the result.

Thanks for asking, new gal!

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Most humbling moments have been in recognizing that I know far less than I think I do, that all my idealism isn't enough to actually help anyone, let alone cure them and most people believe we have a lot more power than we really do.

[Elfriede]

Grmpf...

I´d to recognize, that I´m not an "Angel in white", but a service provider.

[new gal]

I actually have a Psych rotation coming up for second semester, this is one clinical rotation that I knew I wanted to do since day one. The communication that you had used with your patient in your post, are very similar to the student exercises my instructor had us do in first semester clinical. Im glad to hear to hear of your example and that it worked in your patients benefit. Thank you for sharing.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

Most humbling is working at my new job. I know I don't know EVERYTHING but I feel like a dummy. I've been a nurse for almost 8 years & there are nurses with half my years of experience or less who are running circles around me.

[Davey Do]

Most humbling is working at my new job. I know I don't know EVERYTHING but I feel like a dummy. I've been a nurse for almost 8 years & there are nurses with half my years of experience or less who are running circles around me.

A great part of knowing our jobs is just knowing the basics of where things are and who knows or does what, eh OC?

[BSN16]

Before i was a nurse i was working as a cashier in a pharmacy. fresh out of highschool. An older man came up to me and asked me where to find some OTC drug.

Told him he could find it in this isle and went on with my work. Man came up again and asked me to come out and show him because he couldn't read.

made me feel horrible that he couldn't read, and also horrible that he had to disclose to me that he couldnt....if i would have just went out and showed him in the first place.

taught me to be more patient and more helpful because you never understand what someone is going through

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I was young, stupid and fresh off the farm when I started my BSN. In my very first clinical, I was tasked with bathing an old gentleman in the Big City Nursing Home. We'd studied baths, practiced them in skills lab, and I thought I was all ready for this. I gently bathed the man and the washcloth came away dirty. So I went over the same area, a little bit more forcefully -- washcloth still dirty. Changed the bath water, got a new wash cloth and rewashed the same area. Still dirty.

"It's OK, Honey," the patient said kindly. "It ain't gonna scrub off."

Did I mention that I grew up on a farm and went to a high school in a very small down in rural Wisconsin? I never met a non-Caucasian person until I went away to college, and I had certainly never tried to bathe an old Black gentleman. The "dirt" on the wash cloth was skin cells he was shedding. I had never seen such a thing before -- and was completely mortified!

That old guy (who probably wasn't that much older than I am now) turned out to be an expert in teaching nursing students how to give a bath, had dozens of fascinating and hilarious stories to tell and was one of my favorite patients EVER. Most of what I learned from him wasn't covered in the textbook, and I'll forever be grateful to him.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Most humbling is working at my new job. I know I don't know EVERYTHING but I feel like a dummy. I've been a nurse for almost 8 years & there are nurses with half my years of experience or less who are running circles around me.

It takes some time to learn a new place, especially when you aren't familiar with the specialty. If I am remembering correctly you are working now on a floor you have zero experience in. Be patient with yourself. You got this!