Tell me about one of those moments...

Blee O'Myacin, BSN, RN · Mar 3, 2008

that made you glad you were a nurse/CNA.
I know I complain a lot about this and that with regards to nursing. But I would not change my career. It is the residents that make my day - even the complainers.
Please share a moment when you were glad you were a nurse or CNA..happy, funny, moving, etc.
I remember when I first started and was doing patent care. I was overwhelmed by the amount of work and wondered if nursing was my thing. I was helping one of my residents out of bed in the morning and she looked at me with tears in her eyes. She told me "thank you for being so patient with me and letting me take my time getting out of bed. Everyone else is in such a hurry." She ended up dying awhile later, but her words gave me that motivation needed to continue on. :redbeathe

I get an enormous amount of satisfaction when I get a sick, dirty, uncomfortable patient stabilized, comfortable and in clean sheets and gown. It's amazing what a clean bottom and a dry gown can do for a person's spirit.

Blee

LaeDeesNP · Mar 3, 2008

This isn't really about something a patient did or said that motivated me to continue on with nursing but it certainly did make me smile some days...

When I first started nursing, fresh out of college at 21, I used to enjoy some of the reactions on my patients' faces when I introduced myself as their RN at the start of my shift. They'd look at me like, "WHAT?! Are you kidding?! You're a child!" Sometimes I had to explain to them that I WAS licensed, I DID receive my degree, and I'm legit. Some days I felt like coming into work with a sandwich board hanging off my shoulders with my degree on one side and my nursing license on the other! :chuckle

It always did make me chuckle, too, when a patient would call me into their room for nothing medical...just to introduce me to their son, nephew, grandson...you know, just incase I'm interested. AWKWARD.

ann945n, RN · Mar 3, 2008

For me its the little victories, solving problems. Like this last week when I taught my chemo patient how to reduce thrush in his mouth by using a baking soda water mixture. Saw him later and he was so happy cause he was much more comfortable and nearly cleared up. Thats what makes this job the best.

locolorenzo22, BSN, RN · Mar 3, 2008

When I first started giving care, I took a LOONNGG time giving baths. When I washed up a 101 yo woman, she looked at me when we got done and said "I wish I could take you home with me, you were so gentle..." And I'm a big guy, so the comment meant more....

I do enjoy most of my patients, I can usually find some good in every one...some nights though....whoo.

bigmona · Mar 3, 2008

i'll never forget one little old lady i cared for in nursing school... as a student we were responsible for assisting with ADLs. all this woman wanted was her hair washed, and the whole time she'd been in the hospital, no one had done it for her. another student and i washed her hair together, and she wouldn't stop gushing about how happy and grateful she was. such a small thing to do but it made such a difference to her comfort.

now i work in ICU where there's a lot of bleak days, but once in a blue moon a patient will come back after they'd been discharged to say thanks.. i had one patient in particular who was sedated and vented, and it was either extubate or trach the next day.. we woke her up, got her extubated, and i stayed with her that day encouraging her and making sure she didn't poop out-- she ended up doing wonderfully and avoided the trach. that's why i love the ICU in particular- there's key moments where you and everyone around you do your best at a critical time, and every now and then it works out and the patient gets to go back home to their family.

RainDreamer, BSN, RN · Mar 3, 2008

I had one of those moments last week when the mom of my primary called to check on her baby for the night ..... and she told me "I'll be able to sleep tonight because I feel so safe knowing you're there taking care of her". :redbeathe

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Mar 3, 2008

I'd pulled an incredibly easy assignment. I was done with my assessments in an hour and had no meds to give until the end of the shift.

Talk about heaven!

I was so bored in fifteen minutes, I couldn't stand it. I went looking for things to do.

One poor girl came in to take over for a sick coworker and not only got that person's patients but a direct admit that showed up at the desk without orders at about the same time.

It was one of the few times I was glad to see a direct admit. I grabbed the paperwork and some IV stuff, and we headed off down the hall to get him settled.

It was one of the most interesting patients I'd ever had. Polite, nice family. Sewer-pipe veins. And the worst postop infection I'd seen in years. Seems there was a misunderstanding in the ER of another hospital, so the family sat there for hours without being seen, then the patient finally got hold of his doc, and the doc told him to come into our hospital.

No antibiotics, no blood cultures, no labs ordered. Just "OK, go into X hospital and I'll come see you tonight."

This is because the family was saying that the site "looked a little redder than it did this morning."

Actually the site was so edematous that I could've put both my fists into it, and it had actually dehisced on one end from the swelling, and was draining fluid as well.

So when I got the IV and saw the wound, I got the basic paperwork started and called the surgeon back and told him how bad it was. He asked for a few things, and then an ID consult.

Happily, the ID on-call was in the building, so we went and got him, and we got stat orders for all the usual stuff. The family was pretty much blown away by all this sudden activity, and we got everything done within a couple of hours -- blood cultures, labs for surgery, and antibiotics hung, consent, all that.

The nurse who was supposed to take this patient would never have gotten to him until the end of shift because she had several emergencies going. She kept popping in and I'd update her and she'd apologize and take off again.

But it was cool, we had it under control, and my patients were all sleeping, if you can believe it, so I was just glad to make myself useful.

The family who came with the patient were really nice people as I said before, and I explained what we were doing and why, and how the patient would most likely have an I&D in the morning. But they were really blown away by how we all were running to get docs and meds and labs and stuff, after a four-hour drive and waiting all day long to be seen at the wrong hospital.

I thought nothing of it. It's what we do, after all. Plus it kept me from getting bored.

Next day, I'm cruising the cafeteria for some coffee and one of the other customers looks familiar. It's the patient's SO, and she took one look at me and came over and hugged me! Apparently the patient's infection was bad enough that he was I&D'd the next day and then had to go to the ICU.

Today I'm wondering how they're all doing and reflecting on how the skills of nursing seeped into me so unobtrusively that every now and then I recall a time when I really didn't know what an I&D was or how to place an IV, or that the patient with an infection needs blood cultures.

Every now and then as I reflect on where I came from and where I'm going, I realize that I cannot imagine doing anything else for a living and that I really do love being a nurse.

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Mar 3, 2008

I had a pt once that was full of cancer, it began as cervical ca then proceeded to spread through out her body and eventually in her bones, she was young, mid 30s, 3 small kids at home and a husband who was trying his best. Parents and in-laws that were also trying their best but seemed to clash with all involved. I for one could not imagine the stress that extended family was going through.

I was assisting this patient to the Bathroom and she was in so much pain, yet wanted to use the real bathroom, not the BSC. While helping her there, in between her moans and tears, I patted her shoulder gently and said "I know Mary-Life sucks". I dont know why I said that, I guess it was just the 1st phrase that went through my mind. She stopped and looked me in the eye and said, "no life doesnt suck-life is all I want"

Boy did that change my perspective. She passed away 3 weeks later. I will never forget her or her profound statement.

MrsCaseyRN · Mar 3, 2008

When my grandma was sick (she has since passed away) I was the only grandchild (out of 16) that she let help her with personal care and her meds and such. (I'm the only grandchild who is a nurse) It was special time I got to share with her before she died. That has made everything worth it.

Oedgar · Mar 3, 2008

A long time ago, I worked on a unit that cared for CF patients. I was all of about 22 years old, a new LVN. I had grown up in a small town, full of just regular country folks. That first job I had was in a big-city hospital.

We had a family of a newly-diagnosed CF infant. The family was getting an extensive, probably overwhelming taste of the care involved with a child with CF.... getting used to giving enzymes, chest PT, breathing treatments. A lot of the people I worked with thought of these people as "hicks." I did not see them that way. They were just new to everything, including the big hospital environment. I had their baby as my patient for a couple of weeks, and spent a lot of time doing education. Sometimes of course I had to go over the same topic more than once. My coworkers considered them less than bright. I just felt they were average people, bombarded with information during a scary time.

Later, they wrote on their patient satisfaction survey how I had given them great care. It felt good to know that, even in my new nurse bumbling around, I had helped these people through a difficult time.

TigerGalLE, BSN, RN · Mar 3, 2008

I had a patient that was being tx to a nursing home that afternoon. She was actually very steady on her feet and good transferring by herself. Well while I was at lunch another nurse found her on the floor. I stopped eating of course to help get her back into bed, call the doc, and call family. After getting her back in the bed and after everyone else left the room she hugged my neck and cried so hard for 10 minutes. I just sat there with her and let her cry. She was so disappointed and afraid that she was in trouble. I explained that she wasn't in trouble and she just bawled and bawled. I don't think I've ever seen an older woman cry like that. Well she ended up going to the nursing home and after she left the housekeeper found her glasses. She didn't have any family in town so I went to the nursing home after I got off work and delivered the glasses. When she saw me she started crying again and was so happy that I brought her glasses. She cried and told me how I was the nicest person she had ever met. She was cute. I'll never forget her.