Not everything that we meet in the hospital we can talk about. And by the end of the day you will feel so upset and filled with melancholy. You might not sleep and you may say this is the worst day in my work . But you go home and you sleep deeply, you may go out with you friends to have fun. And the next day comes and another sad day may come.
❌ When you meet a 15 years old kid with a CRF ( Chronic Renal Failure ). He's so cute and is smiling while you are taking a blood specimen.
❌ When a 2 years old girl is kept NPO ( NOTHING PER ORAL ) and is crying for water. All I can give her as a nurse is a sips of water to wet her mouth and lips.
❌ When you meet a 24 years old young man diagnosed with a metastatic cancer spread all over his body. And you know he is not going to make it, but you still keep smiling and ask him "Are you a fan of Real Madrid or Barcelona", he smiles and replies "Am with Barca and we won yesterday the Claccico"
❌ When you see a mother coming every morning for her young daughter who has a congenital birth defect and she comes every morning for the last 14 years.
❌ When a patient is dying. All the family around are crying and there is nothing you can do .
❌ When a patient dies in your shift and you are the one covering him.
❌ When a patients comes in complaining from a severe headache and doctors finds out that he has a malignant tumor in the brain .The patients then asks you "Nurse what do my results show , what's wrong with me ?" You can't tell him because doctors restricted that until the relatives come and they talk to them first.
❌ When a patient comes with a 2nd degree burns all over his arms and chest .I was curious about how it happened and why he didn't run away from the fire ...... when I looked around his room I saw a wheelchair near the bed.. The patient was on wheelchair on two years from a car accident.
❌ When you one work in a cancer control centre and everyone that comes from patients , doctors, nurses and visitors are all sad and depressed. I wondered "Is it the cancer that have the people or the people who have cancer."
❌ When you meet a worker in the causality with an amputated leg and is having am infection in the site . He can't afford the treatment yet he was smiling and talking to me.
❌ When you meet a 9 years old pretty girl coming to receive a chemotherapy session.
This is life .. and this is became part of our life and we adjust and move on. Because beyond all this sometimes we are able to bring the smile to those faces and we able to change things. And about that worker with the amputated leg , we the nurses were able to collect the needed money for his medications and he received the health care required. And so is the end of the stories above some are sad end others are not .
i had a 12 year old patient once. i cant seem to stop crying (i tried) whenevr we talk.
he went to harvest mahogany branches after school, he'd sell this for sch allowance. unfortunately, he climbed,& stepped on a dead branch so he fell (approx.) 10 feet down.
and since it was about 2km away from his home, he tried his best to go home...
2 hours after, he no longer felt any sensation in his lower extremities.
the folks brought the kid to the hosp that night.
it happened on sept... & because they lacked money, he had surgery on november.
the boy is just 12 yo & he's now paraplegic.
his situation was so depressing, i still cry whenevr i remember him. a case of countertransference? maybe...
When i was in nursing school, my husband was injured in a logging accident that left him paralyzed. It was pretty devastating at the time, but life goes on, and you deal with it. He is now very independent, drives his own car with hand controls, and needs very little physical help from me. A situation can be depressing, but it can also be an opportunity to develop character. My husband is not depressed, or does not feel sorry for himself, but rather, often gives encouragement and hope to others with his upbeat attitude. It has taught everyone that knows him what a difference attitude can make for an outcome. Yes, he is still paralyzed, but it didn't paralyze his spirit.
I think as nurses, we have a unique opportunity to minister to people when they are very vulnerable, to give them dignity, and as much autonomy as possible. I see my role as coordinating their care to the best of my abilities to provide them with the very best outcome to their circumstance that is possible. Always be the advocate for your patient, even if it means disagreeing with a doctor, or a family member. You may be the only one who will stand up for them, and as a nurse, it is our primary responsibility.
I sincerely hope you enjoy your nursing career as much as i enjoy mine. Some days, i can't believe they pay me to do my job, i love it so much. :redbeathe
That patient is going to suffer with, or without you. You, as a nurse, have skills to help alleviate some of the suffering, to make things just a little bit better than they would be without you. As one of my instructors likes to say "Who you chose to be on any given day affects how people live, die, and come into this world".
You say You wont want to be a nurse, I say that is why I became a nurse. i Will stay over on my shift if someone is dying alone. I say that is why I do what I do. Sometime it is how you look at things. You stand by the family and hold hands that is special you dont have say ant hing just be there. Sometime it is heartbreaking but most of the time its special,
Those are exactly the moments I DO want to be a nurse. There to hold someone's hand, to provide a little encouragement or comfort, to just be present when patients are going through those hard times. Yes, it can be emotionally & spiritually draining, especially if you don't have good support outside of work. In my very short 2 years on the job, some of my best nursing moments have included comforting a patient who has stage 4 cancer with mets everywhere, wondering who's going to take care of her small children & husband after she's gone; doing wound cares for people who are in pain, just talking to them, soothing them as best I can; talking to the 20-year-old patient with ulcerative colitis & a new ostomy, wondering who's going to want someone like him; holding the hand of a patient as she passes from this life to the next at much too young an age. Caring for people is why I became a nurse. I've gotten to see just how strong the human spirit can be and how the will to live can, if not conquer, at least beat back for awhile the ravages of disease & injury. And when those patients with amputations, burns, injuries, infections & diseases smile at me, I don't feel pity. I am reminded of how blessed I am and I am captured by their resiliency. When I've had a really tough night, I find someone to just unload on so I don't have to carry that burden alone. Sometimes I cry. Sometimes there is no redemption in a sad situation, but knowing that I provided the best care I could & offered my care & humanity to someone who is suffering is what gets me through & keeps me wanting to go back.
Saying all of that does not mean I never have a bad night where I feel frustrated & annoyed. It doesn't mean I'm not thrilled to walk out of the hospital at the end of my shift. It does not mean that every patient or even every shift has those moments. But they are there and I appreciate them.
Those are exactly the moments I DO want to be a nurse. There to hold someone's hand, to provide a little encouragement or comfort, to just be present when patients are going through those hard times. Yes, it can be emotionally & spiritually draining, especially if you don't have good support outside of work. In my very short 2 years on the job, some of my best nursing moments have included comforting a patient who has stage 4 cancer with mets everywhere, wondering who's going to take care of her small children & husband after she's gone; doing wound cares for people who are in pain, just talking to them, soothing them as best I can; talking to the 20-year-old patient with ulcerative colitis & a new ostomy, wondering who's going to want someone like him; holding the hand of a patient as she passes from this life to the next at much too young an age. Caring for people is why I became a nurse. I've gotten to see just how strong the human spirit can be and how the will to live can, if not conquer, at least beat back for awhile the ravages of disease & injury. And when those patients with amputations, burns, injuries, infections & diseases smile at me, I don't feel pity. I am reminded of how blessed I am and I am captured by their resiliency. When I've had a really tough night, I find someone to just unload on so I don't have to carry that burden alone. Sometimes I cry. Sometimes there is no redemption in a sad situation, but knowing that I provided the best care I could & offered my care & humanity to someone who is suffering is what gets me through & keeps me wanting to go back.
Saying all of that does not mean I never have a bad night where I feel frustrated & annoyed. It doesn't mean I'm not thrilled to walk out of the hospital at the end of my shift. It does not mean that every patient or even every shift has those moments. But they are there and I appreciate them.
Yea it makes sense ... This are the moments that patients mostly are in need for us to hold hand and talk to ...
I think it's a good read for pre-nursing students, too - so many seem to think nursing will be all helping people and happy flowers and good thoughts and butterflies. It's kind of depressing.
Yes, it is sad and depressing, but all the more reason for those of us studying to be nurses to read it. Nursing is more than just another job - it's a vocation. It also helps, IMHO, to have some of the strength you will need to survive all this come from a power greater than yourself. Thank you for sharing this with all of us. :)
"- When a patient is dying . All the family around are crying and there is nothing you can do ."
Being a nurse does nothing for you if you are actually in that family and recognize the grave nature of the illness. We took my dad off of life support on Saturday- and I wished several times that I had become a teacher or an ice cream salesman.
"- When a patient is dying . All the family around are crying and there is nothing you can do ."
Being a nurse does nothing for you if you are actually in that family and recognize the grave nature of the illness. We took my dad off of life support on Saturday- and I wished several times that I had become a teacher or an ice cream salesman.
It must be hard.. i have never experienced a death case in a close relative or family member .. only far relatives and not so close.. Maybe that is why i feel so hard. My friend remembered her grandma death when we were in the Cancer centre who died from cancer.
Yea ! i have to leanr how to control my feelings and be a nurse. To keep my feelings aside.
I've been a nurse for 32+ years now and sure, I get burnt out. I realize i can't fix everything and it's hard. All I can do is try to make people comfortable and reassure them that (most of them) will get better. I have never shyed away from "dirty work." I am proud to be a nurse. I am the one who comes along side in the middle of the night. Who holds their hand when the doctor has to perform a painful procedure. Who looks into their eyes with calm and confidence when they are fearful of hospital stuff.
**I have wiped to behind of a woman with spinal cord injury who managed to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but couldn't quite make it to the toilet. I was there to efficiently clean her up and reassure her that I wasn't grossed out, that I was doing what her mother or auntie would do if they were there.
**I have held a dying premature baby when the doctor wouldn't even go to the beside, but sat at the desk like an old vulture waiting for her to take her last breath, and the parents knew they couldn't get there in time.
**I have had the privilege to bear witness to countless cancer patients crossing to the other side when no family was willing to be there.
**I have cleaned and dressed stillborn babies and paid tribute to their grieving parents who will never never get over the loss.
**I have comforted the mother who delivered her second anacephalic baby after years of infertility.
All sad sad situations. But I'm a nurse. It's not just my job, it's what makes me who I am. The one who will stand by you in the worst situations and not flinch or turn away. I'm a nurse.
canusnurse
17 Posts
I think as nurses, we have a unique opportunity to minister to people when they are very vulnerable, to give them dignity, and as much autonomy as possible. I see my role as coordinating their care to the best of my abilities to provide them with the very best outcome to their circumstance that is possible. Always be the advocate for your patient, even if it means disagreeing with a doctor, or a family member. You may be the only one who will stand up for them, and as a nurse, it is our primary responsibility.
I sincerely hope you enjoy your nursing career as much as i enjoy mine. Some days, i can't believe they pay me to do my job, i love it so much. :redbeathe