This is Why I Love My Job

Those tears of joy are the reason why I do what I do. It makes all that you go through worth it Nurses Announcements Archive

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Working with the developmentally disabled is hard work. It can be hard emotionally, physically, and verbally. It also can be very rewarding. Tears of joy make the hard work so worth it.

I had been working with the developmental disabled for 6 years on a specific unit that happened to be a behavior unit. I wanted to transfer to a different department. So I applied to the restorative program so I can be a little more mobile and interact with more clients. So I heard of a company that supplied specialized walkers, wheelchairs, and standers. I contacted them to put in a certain amount of specialized walkers that I thought would assist with mobility for the clients that disabilities with walking, balancing, and just standing. There was one client that could not sit up straight without support. He was an elderly gentleman that had been in that position whenever he sat in a chair. chest to knees all his life. I had the honor of working with this gentleman. 5 days a week. His walker had trunk support so it enabled him to stand up straight and walk. He went from touching the walker to pulling himself up in the walker and stood with support while I put on all the safety belts to prevent falls.

One morning I went to my supervisor and said to them wouldn't it be a beautiful gift for his parents to be able to see their son standing and walking. They have never been able to see this. My supervisor agreed and told me to make the call. So I made an invitation for his parents to come out because he had a special gift for them. So they came out a couple of weeks later. In the meantime, my client would follow me to the dining room only if I had vanilla ice cream. The day his parents arrived I had them sit and wait for their son in the dining room with cameras recording. Kaplunk-Kaplunk-Kaplunk was the sound you heard as he walked down to the dining room singing about ice cream. With the cameras recording, he walks through the door and said mom dad and they looked up the expression on their faces was indescribable. They cried tears of joy and hugged their son with so much excitement.

They thanked me and I told them that I would send a copy of the video. When the visit was over I heard his mother whisper to her husband what a wonderful gift before we die. That brought tears to my eyes knowing that My hard work paid off. The long nights and draining shifts of physical and verbal abuse makes it all worthwhile. Folks always say that it takes a special kind of person to work with the developmentally disabled and make a difference in their lives. Well, I say that it is developmentally disabled that make a difference in our lives.

My life changed at that moment. The way I look at life now is totally different. I have more patience and understanding with my clients and their therapy. It brings me so much joy to see my clients wanting to go to therapy and enjoying it. They really look forward to their scheduled time for therapy and might I add that they look forward to their therapy to be with me. That is what I can call being successful in your career because I look forward to working with them just as much. It is therapy for both sides. Much needed therapy for me.

Now I look forward to launching another project that will enable clients to have a more stable gait. That project will be an equestrian program that I know the clients will love. I am so excited to see the success of that program.

dbabz

157 Posts

Thanks for this. Got a little teary-eyed.

Wondering what you do to keep up with latest technologies such as the walkers you mentioned? Are there specific resources you use such as nursing or medical journals? I ask because it seems to me that your client was very fortunate that you had heard about these assistive devices. What a wonderful thing to stand upright after a lifetime of sitting knees to chest. This is the kind of nurse I want to be.

Bookish_SN, ASN

125 Posts

This is amazing!

Everline

901 Posts

Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

Thanks for sharing! In my previous career I did this kind of work. I sometimes dream about going back again.

brownbook

3,413 Posts

I love it, but am wholefully ignorant.

I didn't think a RN would have a job like this. I assumed this type of work would be a physical or occupational therapist job!

I'd love to know how you got into this line of nursing. Are there similar types of work for people with a RN degree?

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