The Motivator

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

We all need something that makes us wake up and give the dawn of our new day a great big ole Cosmic Howdy. Now that I'm retired, I don't need  something to get me motivated, I'm already there.

But there were days in the past, when I saw Monday come dawning, the world woke up yawning, and Friday seemed so far away.

I looked forward to Friday. TGIF.

What kept me going all those years? Well, of course if I wanted to get what I wanted and/or needed; I had to work in order to pay my way.

Our jobs as Nurses are stressful. I chose to become a Nurse because the work was interesting, the pay was pretty good, it was a sturdy profession, and I could see myself as a contributing member of society.

But that's not what always motivated me for a good portion of my career. There were days when the fear of going to work was outweighed only by the fear of what might happen if I didn't go to work, and that's what motivated me.

Sometimes I needed to use a little assistive device that I made, powered by a combustible engine, called The Motivator:

 

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The Motivator assisted me in in overcoming the hardest thing to get, which was going.

Do you have your very own Motivator that gets you going?

 

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Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

It's pitiful, but sometimes the best motivation is knowing that even when everything sucks at work and in life, I'm working toward something that sucks less. For example, I hate everything right now because work has been utterly wretched lately, and between shifts I'm juggling my MSN coursework and my final clinical placement, which has been overwhelming. Knowing that this is my last semester of school EVER, *if* I get up and get things done, and that I'll have my MSN to bolster my resume when I finally throw in the towel at the bedside, is my own personal Motivator.

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
24 minutes ago, NightNerd said:

 work has been utterly wretched lately, and between shifts I'm juggling my MSN coursework and my final clinical placement, which has been overwhelming...  when I finally throw in the towel at the bedside, is my own personal Motivator.

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Specializes in Rehab/Nurse Manager.

Knowing that I have another full day of Pepsi-drinking ahead of me is the best motivator to get me out of bed ???

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Like yours Davey Do, my motivation always came down to 'druthers'... as in I'd ruther (sic) work this soul-numbing, thankless, wretched job than be homeless and searching for my next meal.

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
34 minutes ago, SilverBells said:

Knowing that I have another full day of Pepsi-drinking ahead of me is the best motivator to get me out of bed

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Specializes in Community Health, Med/Surg, ICU Stepdown.

My motivation is helping people, but also that I want to adopt a baby and first need to buy a house so my application looks good. Here in the Bay Area I will need about a million dollars to get a run down shack next to the freeway, hence 2 jobs and OT ?

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

My motivator is the little moments that sometimes come when we least expect them.

One happened to occur overnight last night. We've had a relatively young COVID patient in our critical care unit for over a month. A woman in her mid-50s that I admitted late January. I took care of her off and on for a couple weeks while she was struggling on high flow nasal cannula and we finally intubated her in early February. I was her nurse when she was intubated, she was struggling to breathe and I explained we were going to intubate and sedate her, the last thing she did was hold my hand and say "it's okay honey". It's been heartbreaking to watch her over the past month. She was frequently proned, paralyzed at times, she got a trach recently and she's still requiring high levels of oxygen, but she has such a strong spirit, and body. I've taken care of her many of her last 33 nights and have to admit I've become a bit attached. 

Anyway, the moment last night came when I was getting her all washed and cleaned up for the night. She's awake and alert enough that at times she's mouthing words to us and using some made up sign language to ask for things. I was joking with her about something and all of a sudden she grabbed my hand very hard and pulled me closer to her. I wasn't expecting it and didn't fully have my balance so she was able to pull me down a bit- she hugged me, and didn't want to let go. My coworker was laughing so hard and when we left the room she reminded me "you HATE being touched!", and she's not really wrong. But when I stepped back from that hug, the patient still held my hand tight and just kept mouthing "thank you". The moments might be few and far between, but the times that I feel that I might really have made a difference for someone, and never knowing when or where those moments will arise, is why I'm generally pretty happy to go to work. 

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
1 minute ago, LibraNurse27 said:

Here in the Bay Area I will need about a million dollars to get a run down shack next to the freeway

Wow, LibraNurse.

Wow on all of it.

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Specializes in CCL RCIS.

My motivator is that my job is fun, and I have to feed my family. Both are motivation enough.  

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Specializes in Community Health, Med/Surg, ICU Stepdown.
3 minutes ago, Davey Do said:

Wow, LibraNurse.

Wow on all of it.

LOL! I wish I were joking. A lot of people can't believe the salaries of Bay Area nurses, but if you look on Zillow the home prices are much more unbelievable! Even per diem Kaiser nurses making $100/hr struggle to afford buying a home here... I'm hoping one of the other local tech billionaires will hand me a few million one of these days; for them it would be like giving someone a five dollar bills! So far my facebook messages have been unanswered ?

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1. Everyone who has ever lived has suffered through things they didn't want to do and experiences they didn't want to have. I'm sharing in the commonality of the human experience, and I guess it gives me things to think about and talk about.

2. My life is relatively easy. I don't have to drink water from a crocodile-infested pond or outmaneuver hungry lions, I can just "work" for a few hours, then go to a vending machine or turn on a facet. What do I have to complain about?

3. I enjoy the novelty of new experiences and observing new people and new situations.

4. Practical reasons and blah, blah, blah.

 

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