I'm currently working on an article about the lost art of nursing. I still strongly believe that nursing is an art.
Yesterday, I was in a patient's room who was just transitioned to comfort care, talking to the family members, and providing support and comfort. Another nurse asked jokingly asked, "Did you want to take them home with you? You were there for a long time." For some reason, this bothered me. Other than that instance, I have encountered different situations where nurses question what I do (sitting at the edge of the bed of a patient who's very anxious/scared, taking a patient out to the garden or window with a great view of the city skyline, and etc.) I let it pass to my other ear because I love doing these things for my patients, and I will always find ways to do it no matter how hectic a shift gets. However, it made me question if other nurses realize that this "extra" duty is not really an extra duty, because it is nursing in itself. Building therapeutic relationships, expressing compassion and empathy by simply offering water and ice before a patient asks for it. I wonder if nursing schools are still teaching or putting emphasis on the foundations of nursing, where and how the profession started, the theories that have shaped it, and others.
If you have encountered the same situation, how did you react? What did you feel?