Quick 2 questions

Mr. Murse · May 18, 2014

You'd probably get a lot more responses if you put this in the "general nursing" section instead of "men in nursing", unless of course you're just looking for answers as they pertain to men in nursing.

Anyway, there are the cliche things about nursing that people always say are rewarding like helping people through difficult times, making people feel better, saving lives, etc, etc. These are all true from time to time but I think people that go into nursing expecting to feel rewarded like that on a regular basis will be burnt out and disappointed quickly. Most of the time you don't get a lot of thanks from patients or save a life (unless you're in some particularly critical care unit). A lot of times you just feel like a pill pusher (if you're on a med-surg floor) and a computer charter. My personal gratification comes from my own perspective of the job. I like getting report and seeing my shift and challenges laid out ahead of me and not knowing what will happen. I like feeling like these people are my responsibility for next 12 hours, to keep them comfortable, to make their time in this situation a little better even if they don't acknowledge it. I like leaving at the end of the shift and feeling like I did all I was able to for my patients and coworkers. I find gratification from witnessing humanity at its best and worse (sometimes from the same person in the same shift), and participating in the never ending game of tug of war between sickness and health, sanity and craziness, or even life and death. Then you get the occasional special moments when a patient sincerely thanks you and hugs you, or you catch a potential major problem and save a life, those are just the cherry on top. Your work ethic and point of view will define your satisfaction with the job.

As for challenges, I think the biggest thing every nurse has to deal with constantly is time management and prioritization. You will go through times when you're being bombarded by call lights, doctor's calls, patients bleeding, sats dropping, poop in the bed, and more all at the same time and will have to learn to just stop in the midst of the insanity and take a deep breath, refocus, then jump on the tasks one at a time by order of priority. You almost have to learn to love these moments too, the rush and challenge of feeling overwhelmed. Aside from time management, I think another common challenge is just dealing with people on a personal level. As in: religious beliefs, attitudes towards you from patients, attitudes towards you from patient families, knowing what to say in very difficult situations that is compassionate to the patient but still honest to yourself.

I don't know if I put that all very well, but that's how I see it so far. I'm an RN and part time charge nurse on a primarily GI surgical floor, with a little bit of everything else mixed in. ha.