At work we often talk about 'they' I have heard on a regular basis about this unknown faceless people who are referred to as 'they'. They are the rule makers of your company, they are the people who send down new policies and procedures, they are the people who in our minds really don't have any concept of the reality of what it is like to work short staffed and then be expected to follow policies and procedures. 'They' are many people and sometimes we can become a 'they'.
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When I came into nursing, which was a long time ago now, I was part of the old cliche, which was to help people, I know a shocking concept in the ever changing world of healthcare.
Never in my wildest dreams did I envision my self at the top of the ladder and that I became 'they'
I am sure you have all heard it said 'they' want us to do it, it came down from above and 'they' need us to behave in this way. Why are 'they' giving us more and more to do? With less time to do it.
So my question who is 'they'? In my company they are a variety of people all with the best intentions in the world. I work in dialysis and dialysis is one of the most heavily moderated specialties in this country. So lots of rules, regulations govern us and higher standards of care are expected from the dialysis community, what does this means to the direct care staff? Lots of new policies and procedures have to be initiated plus evaluated constantly.
A definition of they-'They' are old, young, clinical, non-clinical, very experienced nurses and nurses with no floor experience, they can be male or female, any race, culture or religion. 'They' can be you if you want to be 'they'.
'They' do have the best interest of the patients and staff when planning and implementing changes, new policies, new tools to assist changes and they are part of the company you have chosen to work at. This means they are you!! Confused yet?
I was one of those nurses who wondered who they were and how did they know what it was like to work on a floor, how tiring it is, how hard we worked, no breaks and how do they know how it is to care for a sick or dying patients and their relatives? I spent over 15 years giving direct care to patients, I have the knowledge and experience to represent nurses-I wanted to be part of the team of 'they' as a RN.
I worked hard to be a 'they' I took courses, I volunteer for projects, I was flexible and open to change-I love to be innovated to be part of new projects and pilots to see if it will improve the quality of care delivered to the patients. I love to audit to see how care is given, to educate where I see the need, and I am the advocate for Nurses, PCT's and other direct care staff in dialysis units.
Do I make a difference? I know I fight daily with a team of RN's to stand up for nurses and pcts. I love the concepts of some of the ideas but I also know the reality for many direct patient care staff. I am skeptical and always open to be proven wrong to some ideas and really enthusiastic for many other ideas.
I remember back in the day when changes would be implemented thinking to myself 'if it is not broken why mend it' of course today we have to have research to prove that something works, pilots with hundreds of steps carefully written for staff to follow.
Why? Because we have to make sure that we do not harm a patient or a member of staff, we can only guarantee anything if we follow the steps laid out-and be prepared to change quickly if something is identified during the pilot that has the potential to harm.
I love what I do, but I cant look back I am so far removed from the floor that I am dizzy. I often wondered how it happened and if I am as happy as I was when I was a RN working the floor in a busy bustling hospital.
My answer to this question is no I am not as happy as I was when I was a RN on the floor, nothing in the world can compare to looking after patients, working with a team of nurses and laughing/crying so hard with patients, staff and family members. Feeling proud when I helped to support patients and families through good and bad news.
However I do believe that I am up there, supporting the nurses by making sure I never forget my grass roots. I am 'They' and 'They' are us, whether we like it or not!!
