What was your best?

Perpetual Student · Feb 22, 2012

I have a lot of good moments and totally love my job. The good moments out-weigh the bad ones for me by far.

I had a patient last week who I took report on after he'd been in the PACU for probably 30 minutes or so, as the nurse caring for him was going home. She had done quite a bit to manage him already, so I can't take 100% of the credit. This poor fellow was in 10/10 (real 10, not boo-hoo my pinky hurts 10) pain, his BP was ridiculously high, and he was basically hating life. Over the next hour or so I got his pain under control, his BP down to where it was compatible with ongoing life (and within my parameters), and kept him breathing adequately. It took a LOT of drugs to get him comfortable. Once he was comfortable, I held onto him for a while to make sure that he continued to breathe when they peaked.

OK, big deal, that's what I do most days, right? I got him settled into his room on the floor and gave report. He said to me "[Perpetual Student], thank you so much. You were a godsend." I absolutely love making people more comfortable, while also keeping them safe.

wrenRN06 · Feb 22, 2012

I had a lot of great moments in nursing school...one that stands out is during my externship in a NICU. I was caring for a sweet little baby boy and every time I would feed him and burp him he would let out these HUGE truck driver burps. Made my whole day :)

Also, I had a patient in the ICU who I had cared for a few times...on my last day of clinical his wife saw me in the hallway as I was leaving and thanked me and told me I was going to make a great nurse. It's moments like that where you realize you are making a big difference in someone's life.

weavers · Feb 22, 2012

Great post. I am only a nursing student, but I want to share my experience.

I was at the end of my first year of a ADN program I had an observation day on a Burn unit. We were allowed to give care, meds, dressing changes, ect. I had 2 pt. one patient had a rare skin condition, Calciphylaxis from stage 5 kidney failure. She wasn't a burn victim but has this Calciphylaxis was on 20-30% of her body. She was on the burn unit for +6months for care of her wounds and on isolation. It was so bad you could visible see the coccyx and you could of put a tennis ball in her coccyx. This was my first real wound care experience. I was so proud of myself. I did 12NG meds(3checks+5rights+SE and why pt is taking it), FSBG, insulin, heparin, installed a new PCA syringe, IV piggy back, hung a new primary bag, wet to dry dressing change. My dressing change was a oval 6"x12" and 2 inches deep with half inch tunneling. I took the easy dressing change, the other 3 nurses did the rest. That day I gave this patient every moment of nursing school. Every hour study, every lecture class, every exam, every moment practicing skills paid off. I put all of my knowledge into the care I gave that day. I learned so much. I love complex cases. I feel I made such a difference for this pt. On top of everything it was the patient's birthday. I swear they could see my smile behind my face mask.

What I am most proud of is the respect and dignity I gave this patient.

I was an advocate. I was a team member, A few RNs, MD and myself had an ethical dilemma discuses on the plan of care of this pt. My RN included me, she assessed my knowledge and had me do everything I could do. She is an inspiration on the kind of nurse I want to be. I wrote a letter and handed it to the director of the burn unit. I was so impressed with the kind of care they give. My nurse was beyond amazing. I exceeded my own expectations of myself.

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2012

Recently I was able to load 12 low income students on a bus, some with their parents coming along, and go to a vision fair where all 12 were seen by an optomotrist, 3 were seen by an ophthamologist, 10 of the 12 received free glasses, and one will be having surgery to correct a serious problem. It was a crazy hectic day but sooo worth it...none of these kids had other options for free eye exams or glasses. This was a school nursing WIN!

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2012

The patient that comes to mind is one that I met just over 3 years ago, when she was 6 weeks old. To make a long story short, she had congenital hydrocephalus, ended up in the hospital for about 3 months on this hospitalization and almost died on me at least twice during this hospitalization due, in part, to gross mismanagement on the part of the surgical team. (I am convinced that there would have been a malpractice suit if the child's parents weren't teenagers.) Anyway, we were all fairly convinced that she would end up neurologically devastated with all that she endured during this first hospitalization that she was with us. The last time I saw her, she was 2 1/2 and, if anything, was developmentally advanced. She jumped into my arms when I went into her room and all I could think was how amazing it was to be holding her as a healthy, active 2 year old when I had held her dying when she was 2 months old.

In the second situation, it was a teenager who had a multiply-recurrent high grade brain tumor and bled/had emergent surgery 2 days before her scheduled surgery. She spent what is likely to have been her last birthday with us. She had a lot of horrible effects from the surgery- was delirious, disoriented, combative, fell several times, etc. She was one of those patients who no one wanted to take care of, but I loved her. One day when I was taking care of her, I had been spoken to by my manager because I didn't waste 20 minutes to go searching for a working computer so I could give another patient (who was ready to be discharged) her PO Augmentin and scan it. No, I read the order, gave the child the PO Augmentin and charted it the old fashioned way knowing that those 20 minutes of my time would be better spent with my patient and her mother. I did not become a nurse to scan barcodes, I became a nurse to take care of patients. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment taking care of this girl- the day that I met her she was disoriented and combative, several days later I was able to get her off her sitter and on the day I discharged her to rehab, she showered herself with very minimal assistance and when she left, she looked at me and said, "you were a really good nurse." And I thought, THAT is why I'm a nurse.