pearsoaj

I have worked as a private duty home health nurse for almost three years in this is the only area of nursing I have been employed in. In my current position, I work with the same pediatric client on a daily basis in their home, assisting with ADLs, providing skilled nursing care, and just being their companion. My client refers to me as her "arms and legs who she can talk to" as she is physically disabled with a genetic disorder. But as a new and young nurse, I often wonder what I am missing out on in not having the conventional hospital position. Am I actually making a difference? Am I really a true nurse? When caring for my client, a normal day begins with disconnecting the various medical equipment she has monitoring, feeding, and assisting her with breathing. I lift her to the bathroom, clean, dress her, and then transfer her to her wheelchair. I make her meals and giver her, her daily treatments and medications. If she is in good health, this constitutes my skilled nursing care for the most part besides continual monitoring for needs and performing interventions as they are needed. The rest of my day consists of me just being her companion; helping her with homework, talking to her about her friends, watching her favorite TV shows, going to the mall, etc. It's an admittedly easy nursing job, though I have worked more demanding home health cases prior to this. I can't complain and gripe as many nurses do about high stress, long hours, working holidays, or too many patients. My schedule is flexible, rarely am I faced with life or death scenarios, I don't often work holidays, and I have one patient to care for each day. Because of these discrepancies, I sometimes don't see myself as a legitimate nurse, I don't think any complaints I may have about my work seem valid, and I feel self-conscious about my role in the nursing profession. I enjoy the nature of my job, the one-on-one care that enables me to provide consistent and thorough care with sureness and connection I make with my clients and their families. On my bad days, I feel like a glorified babysitter whose sills are dwindling away and whose education is being wasted. On my good days, I realize that my services are necessary because if I wasn't caring for my patient then who would? Another nurse probably, but possibly no one and then the family would be stretched thin to have to balance and accommodate the special needs of their child as well as function as a family and provide for their own needs. Their case requires a nurse because of the skilled care involved, so a home health companion, aide, or even babysitter would not suffice. It's a nursing job and if every nurse developed an attitude that they are better than this type of work, the patient and the family would suffer. My client's family heaps appreciation and gratefulness on me constantly and I often feel so undeserving, but any share of the burden that I take on is significant to them. Therefore, I am serving a purpose. Though my day-to-day routine may seem insignificant compared to that of a nurse in the ED, for instance, but I can assert that I am truly making a difference. I must remind myself often that my initial purpose for practicing nursing, as it is most nurse's, is to serve the weak and susceptible with genuine compassion for their health and well-being. I am certainly doing this type of work and I must maintain this value throughout my practice and realize the bigger picture and what I am, as a whole, contributing to. There are so many areas of nursing and a lot of different types of nurses needed for the right job. I've determined that my current role and the role I've envisioned for my future is going to be different than that of the majority of nurses who work in a hospital setting. Because if not me then who? I have to own my role with confidence and certainty that this can be my purpose for as long as it suits. I do aspire to continue to advance in my practice, however. I hope to find a position that challenges me daily but that I can maintain proficiency in. Possibly in another specialized field of nursing that I can excel in. Ultimately, I am rewarded in my work by serving others in whatever form that may be. This is the most important aspect of my job and as long as I can claim to do such, I will be a satisfied nurse.