Motivating the Nurse in All of Us

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2012

I have lots.

"I have gone through many difficult experiences in my life, barely squeezing around the obstacles in my way. But with those challenges came a great deal of learning. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I would not change a single thing. What I have come to learn is too valuable."

-Marissa Angel

"I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it."

-Maya Angelou

"Success is loving life and daring to live it."

-Maya Angelou

"If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes, hold your head high, look it squarely in the eye and say, 'I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.'"

-Ann Landers

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble."

-Helen Keller

leslie :-D · Jun 22, 2012

I had to actively search for a quote/saying, that reflects my philosophy of life, and how I have chosen to live.

I truly live and die by the following:

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people may think or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so, it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes. " - Charles Swindoll -

We really are in control. ?

studentnurse50 · Jun 22, 2012

This one got my through nursing school, I apologize but I don't know who originally said it;"Courage doesn't always roar. *Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day which says, I will try again tomorrow."

sapphire18 · Jun 22, 2012

"Because Flo said so!" -The mantra of my graduating nursing class;)

I like this one too:

“Our job as nurses is to cushion the sorrow and celebrate the joy, everyday, while we are ‘just doing our jobs.’”- Christine Belle, RN BSN

and:

“To do what nobody else will do, a way that nobody else can do, in spite of all we go through, is to be a Nurse.” —Rawsi Williams, RN

“They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou

And some funny ones:

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no use being a damn fool about it.” —W.C. Fields

“How can anybody hate nurses? Nobody hates nurses. The only time you hate a nurse is when they’re giving you an enema.” —Warren Beatty

“Always thank your nurse. Sometimes the only one between you and a heorifice.” —Carrie Latet

*Found these at scrubsmag.com*

I also used to be part of a fb group called "Nurses: We Keep Doctors from Accidentally Killing You"

minnymi · Jun 22, 2012

Another one that encouraged me more than once...

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

sweet~revenge · Jun 22, 2012

"If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger."

I believe that was Conan the Barbarian Love that guy.

simonemyheart · Jun 22, 2012

Praying that I can leave bedside nursing as soon as possible. I hate it, it's depressing, it make me want to crawl up in a bed and die.

I cry on my way to work, at work, and leaving work.

I am motived by the Lord and pray for His strength everyday.

NeuroNinjaRN · Jun 23, 2012

More and more, I find the first line of Desiderata by Max Ehrmann popping up as a mantra when I'm at work: "Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence." There's something strangely soothing about it when forty people want my attention and every piece of equipment on the unit is alarming at the same time. )

My all-time favorite quote, which has inspired and encouraged me through many a difficult day, comes from the movie A League of Their Own: "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great."

sunflowergirlRN · Jun 23, 2012

"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning how to dance in the rain!"

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jun 23, 2012

Achieve:

"The sky's the limit if your heart is in it"

SweetPEI · Jun 23, 2012

No man is an island, no man stands alone

Each man's joy is joy to me

Each man's grief is my own

We need one another, so I will defend

Each man as my brother

Each man as my friend

We are all part of one race, the human race. Healthcare is a a field that truly exemplifies that. There are few who will refuse to throw away pride and prejudice when that line between life and death draws close together. Caring for others in itself should motivate us to want to care even more. We may not always get the result we hope for, but our diligent care can reach beyond the patient and extend into family's friends, staff and many other people's hearts.

allnurses Guide · Jun 23, 2012

In the last few years I've discovered not all my motivators are upbeat. A job I had for about 5 years taxed my patience to the point I began to feel angry, even though my analyzing brain knew what was and wasn't a real cause for those feelings. One evening when I felt I was at the end of my rope this quote popped into my mind - it shifted my perceptions enough to allow the anger to melt away, and since I was not at work, I cried. For myself, my patients, and the whole damn world.

Quote
The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

The Merchant Of Venice Act 4, scene 1, 180-187

I think of it often. It reminds me to have "mercy" for my own frailties as I attempt to dig deep and delay the impending freak-out for a while.