Now, how about some Good Nurse stories.

Nurses General Nursing

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I've enjoyed the posts about the nice things doctors have done, now lets talk about some of the good nurses we work with every day. With a few exceptions, I work with some excellent nurses. We have a very close knit staff who support and help each other personally and professionally. When one of our coworkers was diagnosed with breast cancer, we all donated a sick day to her so she would be able to take some more time off. There is a young man I work with, a newbie by the way, who seems to have a sixth sense about when you need help. He is always there to help reposition a patient or change a wet bed. He seeks out any chance to learn something new, and has a "teach me" attitude. Many of our staff work extra voluntarily to cover short shifts, and are willing to change schedules on short notice. We have many people who are just so kind and supportive to patients and their families. And most of our nurses are very skilled and knowledgeable. I believe that most nurses are like this, but we need to give each other credit for being as good as we are. Does anyone out there have a story about another nurse who provides exceptional care or has done something kind for a coworker?

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When I was one year out of school, a particularly brilliant nurse from Scotland was my 'mentor...unofficially I had decided I wanted to be like her. She had such an astute understanding of how the human body systems worked together, and was exceptional in her cardiac knowledge. She worked in ICU, I was a nervous medsurg charge nurse; and when our little hospital opened up a stepdown unit, I was chosen to be in charge there...much of the credit goes to what I learned from my self appointed 'mentor'.

She was (and is) an awesome nurse....she now worke for a group of cardiologists in the area and they know they could not get along without her! :)

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WHEN I GOT MY FIRST "REAL JOB" I WAS A WRECK!!!

FEELING LIKE I DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE AND VERY TIMID, I WORKED WITH A GROUP THAT DIDN'T REALLY CARE--ONCE OFF ORIENTATION-YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN!!!

THEN I SWITCHED TO A DIFFERENT SHIFT--WHAT A EYE-OPENER!!!

I THEN DUBBED THEM ALL "SAINTS" BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL SO READY TO HELP AND PUSH ME TO DO THINGS I NEEDED TO DO BUT WASN'T SURE ENOUGH OF MY SELF!!!

I DO NOT WORK WITH THESE PEOPLE ANYMORE BUT I STILL KEEP IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH THEM!!! THEY ARE THE GREATEST GROUP!!

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years ago when l was a lpn, l was going thru a real hard time in life...one day l just started crying and couldn't stop...my poor mom didn't know what else to do, took me to an urgent care and the nurse who took care of me was sooooooo compasionate, l'm crying now just thinking of her. we crossed paths a few more times and struck up a frienship. she was an rn working on her masters at the time. l wanted my rn but my divorce had ruined my credit, my ex had actually stold my school loan money.....it was a mess. one day we were sitting at a resturaunt talking about my situation. she said to me, "i have no doubt you will get your rn..as a matter of fact l know you will...somewhere down the road you will be walking in my shoes..you will persue the same professional path." ; replied l would be satisfied with my adn...she said,"you will go beyond that." l asked her why she thought this, she said, "l don't know how l know but l'm sure." this has been about 12 -13 yrs ago. l have my adn and it was miraculous how l got the funding. my old school loan is paid off. l havn't yet persued the bsn but have been looking at some adn to msn programs........i am still struck by the power of words! we should never underestimate their influence...l believe they are the most powerful weapon in the universe.....my friend alice taught me this, and while many other peo;le have a hand in my professional success, l believe her influence was the strongest. thank you alice....we have lost contact, she moved to columbus to persue her phd....but l will never forget.............lr

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i have a great team of nurses i work with, they are always willing to help out and our orthopaedic ward is and area that could not run smoothly with out effective teamwork. Others visiting nurse to our ward often complement us on our friendliness and our co-operation I would just like to say thank-you to all the wonderful nurses out there that make my workplace a fun and interesting place to work. often you don't know whose gonna make you laugh next, ta guys and gals

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What a GREAT story I. Rae....'The power of WORDS'....so very true. We all have the opportunity to encourage or discourage someone simply by the WORDS we use! Thanks for the reminder!

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When I started work at the Long Term Care Center, I had just came out of treatment for substance abuse. I was on a monitoring program and was not allow to pass narcotics for 1,000 hours. The nurses from the other units had to come early and leave late and interupt their daily routines to count and pass my narcs. They never complained and many times they forgot the key on the opposite side of the building and had to go back or the med count would be all screwed up from the shift before and they never complained or made me feel bad. When I needed a hand with caths (couldn't find hole - why are the dummies at school so nicely formed?) or lessons on the suction machine they would come all the way over to help me. They gave me their phone numbers and said call if you have a bad day. ONe day it was my 1 year sobriety anniversery - I never told anyone at work - but all of a sudden there were flowers and balloons and gifts all across the front desk from many nurses and supervisors who I did not think even cared about me or understood the importance of this day for me. I was never so touched in my life. When a newspaper article came out after 1 1/2 years of sobriety about my past deeds - I didn't find out until report - living in a small town this was devastating - so I cried at the med cart and said I couldn't go on and I couldn't give the Nursing Home a bad name either. The hugs, the sharing of their own newspaper articles!, and once again flowers galore -- I will never forget the love I feel from this staff. They have seen me at my worst emotionally and yet they continue to support me and encourage me. I feel lucky to know these fine nurses and wonderful friends.

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coleen, congratulations and best wishes. sometimes we can be are our own worst enemy huh? keep up the good work........!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I have to say that I am disappointed in the relatively few replies to this post, compared to the Good Doctor thread. When I started this thread, I thought there would be many more stories about good nurses. Do we see commendable behavior from physicians so infrequently that we feel compelled to comment on it? And is exceptional performance on the part of nurses the norm, so we don't feel the need to take note of it? Or are we so unsupportive of each other that we just don't give each other credit for what we do every day? I hope it is the former, and not the latter. We should be recognizing our coworkers accomplishments regularly, providing positive feedback and support. We certianly won't get it from management.

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I just haven't had time to go into a post describing all the good things my fellow nurses do! Personally, I have the best bunch of coworkers in the entire world. I even got a sympathy card when I had to have my 17 year old dog put to sleep! My favorite co-worker was my mentor as a new grad, and we still keep in touch. She made me feel welcome and was so supportive everytime I did something stupid, which seemed like all the time back then. She even organized a welcome potluck for me to introduce me to the staff and stood up for me to a doctor back when I was shy. I absolutely love her and would be happy to be 1/10th the nurse she is!!! (The most important part is that she knows this. If we don't tell our coworkers how helpful they are, what's the point?)

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My first job as a LVN was in a LTC facility and the nurse I worked with on nights was the best nurse I have ever worked with. She never gave me a hard time when I asked her questions. She was allways willing to help. She had been a nurse for about 28yrs and had worked cardiac ICU at one time. If I ran into a situation I wasn't sure about, I could ask her to help.

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

The thread is here, and the posts will come. Patience!! ;)

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