So...What Kind of Nursing Task Do You LIKE?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

We've got a really good thread going on the kinds of nursing tasks we hate, so I thought I'd throw this one out there to get people talking about the kinds they actually enjoy doing.

For me it was IVs. I stunk at them for the first couple of years after I got out of school because I didn't have much of a chance to start them in the LTCs I worked in. But when I got into acute care, I didn't have a choice but to learn, and within a year I was getting calls from the ICU to come down and start an IV in someone they couldn't get a line in. Frequent flyers would actually request me by name to start their IVs because I could do it quickly and on the first try. I don't know why I had so much luck with the hard sticks, when sometimes I'd miss a big plump one in the hand; there was also the occasional shift where I wasn't "in the zone" and couldn't hit a barn door with a two-by-four. We all have those days. But I sure miss holding a 20-gauge angiocath in my hand and sliding that baby in smoothly and effortlessly. :yes:

Specializes in Surgical, quality,management.
You all might think I'm weird but I like being the nurse when we have nothing left to do for the patient but keep them comfortable. I like making sure they have the right meds to ease their suffering, putting chapstick on their lips, coming their hair, rubbing their backs when turning them. Just feels like the least I can do at the end of life.

Not weird, one of the greatest honors we have as nurses. I will move heaven and earth if I have an actively dying pt with no family present. When I was on the floor I would smash through the essentials for my other pts. Then delegate out their bells to other nurses and sit with them.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care and ED.

I really, really love taking care of very sick patients. The ones on CRRT, IABP, multiple gtts, vented, paralyzed, cooling blanket....the whole thing. That's why I went into critical care. The walky talkies were always more stressful for me. There's something about being able to concentrate and address every tiny detail that appeals to me. And I really love untangling lines and labeling all the drips. I guess I'm anal retentive.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

I sure am glad "it takes all kinds to make the world go 'round!"

Some of you are seriously sick! (joking!)

I just realized that I used to do the majority of my cathing (bladder) with my left hand....but I am right handed! Just kind of odd.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

I love doing IV's and phlebotomy. Especially when someone seeks me out to get a hard stick.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I love assisting with procedures (placing of cental lines, drains...). I love putting in IVs (I'm not the best, but I'm fairly good! and I love when patients are surprised that it went really quick and easy - when it does), and doing blood sticks (I'm really good at those, you don't need a really good vein, just an okay one). I love doing arterial blood sticks, I'm actually pretty darn good at those.

Cleaning up and settling in a train wreck patient is satisfying, too : making them clean and presentable to family, untangling multiple lines and labeling everything...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Giving a funky patient a good scrub down and linen change then see them all pretty and smelling good (or at least neutral!) and hearing them say how much better they feel! I feel like that it helps move them to a better mental state especially after being extubated/lines pulled.

Love anything sterile. I like doing a good central line dressing change and securing the tubing well so the patient feels better moving around.

Helping a patient drink or eat post extubation. Love how excited they get!

Difficult IV starts, especially using ultrasound.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho.

I like any task that gets an immediate positive response from the patient, usually foleys, pain control, bathing or repositioning. Makes me feel awesome after getting report that reflects negatively on the pt & then I can do something simple to completely change the pt's attitude & improve their comfort.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Woundcare, especially packing and wrapping wrists and ankles. I love getting great pics and researching products.

Venipuncture.

Med reconciliation.

Charting.

Admissions. I like knowing everything about the patient, coordinating care and teaching them something new.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, Med-surg.

Suture removal, especially when the patient decided to wait a month or two to come back and everything is super crusty.

Maybe it's my childhood dream of being an archaeologist coming to the surface.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.

I really like nipping babies. Most of the girls in orientation complain about it because feeding them can take 30 minutes.... But once I got the hang of feeding babies with nipping problems, I really liked it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Behavioral Health.
I like giving prn haldol Ativan and Benadryl :)

10, 2, and 50. In my hospital that's known as the Holy Trinity. Or a B52, if you only do 5 of Haldol. Though we have one doc (out of eight) that requires us to do q15min checks if we give Ativan and Haldol within 2 hours of each other, because both can cause respiratory depression.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Difficult IV starts in little veins-- I love finessing a 22G into a tiny little vein. I can miss huge veins all day long but I have a knack for the tiny ones. Go figure.

Teaching...especially new Coumadin. I love to explain the overlap of Heparin and Coumadin.

Foleys (female)---the more challenging the better. Nothing more satisfying than hitting "liquid gold" on the first try. However, I REALLY dislike difficult male foley caths...I hate that feeling of resistance and the catheter bending. I'm a female but it makes me hurt.

Trouble shooting anything---figuring a way to use something in an unusual way. One of my favorite adaptations was an irrigation syringe I created by attaching a foley cath to a cath tipped syringe. I needed to irrigate a deeply tunneling wound and it worked perfectly.

Taking off complicated chemo orders --back in the day, we did them on paper and used a bunch of different colored pens. It might take an hour to take off one set but when you were done it was so satisfying to make sense of a confusing regimen.

Setting up the tubing for the above mentioned chemo regimens.

Assisting w/ bedside procedures--- anticipating the needs of the person doing the procedure.

Sharing tricks of the trade w/ co-workers

Teaching new nurses and students.

Shaving---by far my favorite thing. Such a little thing can make such a huge difference!

Comfort care

Post-mortem care

Suggesting orders to an MD and not only having him/her order what you suggested but thanking you for thinking of it.

Along those lines---I love working w/ co-workers who realize that everyone makes an important contribution and all opinions are given merit. That's when the patients have the best outcomes.

Connecting w/ that "difficult" patient --->> finding that little something that makes them smile. Even better when you get them to open up to you and you find out that they really aren't "difficult" at all. They've just been going through some *****y stuff.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment