What does Nursing mean to you?

hello ladies and gents,

i was wondering if anybody could tell me their opinion of what it means to be a professional nurse from the perspective of nursing standards. i am a first year nursing student and still trying to grasp the concept. maybe some of you have recently learned this and could help me out? thanks!:)

nursing =means angel on earth

loved it, never tired of caring for sick people...before you graduate you have the chance to do your oath....feel it with love and passion,, if not nursing is not for you..

goodluck wish you all the best in your early nursing life

I have nothing magical or touchy-feely to contribute. Being a professional nurse means doing something that I'm really good at and, for the most part, enjoy, for pretty good money.

This is a question that you will find the answers to for yourself as your progress through school and then into actually becoming a nurse. It is different for everyone. For me, it means providing the most safe, responsible, ethical care for every patient, every day. No matter how crappy you feel, or how unpleasant a particular patient may be, you can never lower your standard of care. That is just one part of what it means to be a professional. I love my sweet patients, but I love the challenge of caring for the crabby ones all the same. Being a nurse is a truly amazing profession. I love my job.

Being a severant to the ill, I know it sounds good but its how I feel lately about the career path I've chosen...

2 words... Saving lives :)

It means watching life come in to world and watching it leave. It means having a soft heart and a steel spine. Laughing and crying sometimes within the same hour. Tired feet and legs and every muscle in your body hurting. A wink between yourself and patients who you have watched improve from death's door. Tears of frustration and tears of joy. Eating cake out of an emesis basin with a tongue blade. A bladder the size of a Winnebago. Mastering being assertive without being aggressive. Learning that you are both stronger and weaker than you thought you were. Laying your weary head on a pillow at the end of a day knowing you made a difference. Having a sixth sense that "something just isn't right" with your patient and it's not in a book....and thanking God for His mercy and grace. :redbeathe:redbeathe

It means watching life come in to world and watching it leave. It means having a soft heart and a steel spine. Laughing and crying sometimes within the same hour. Tired feet and legs and every muscle in your body hurting. A wink between yourself and patients who you have watched improve from death's door. Tears of frustration and tears of joy. Eating cake out of an emesis basin with a tongue blade. A bladder the size of a Winnebago. Mastering being assertive without being aggressive. Learning that you are both stronger and weaker than you thought you were. Laying your weary head on a pillow at the end of a day knowing you made a difference. Having a sixth sense that "something just isn't right" with your patient and it's not in a book....and thanking God for His mercy and grace. :redbeathe:redbeathe

So This!

Well, I can't do better than ebear, so that!

Have enough compassion to care, but not too much that you fall apart when you see people in pain.

Carry yourself with composure and a cool head.

Do not panic or fall apart in an emergency, especially in front of patient.

Never set someone up for failure.

Be able to admit that you made a mistake.

Be able to learn from your mistakes.

Leave personal issues at the door and never bring them onto the floor.

Practice within your scope of practice.

Show up on time.

Do not judge your patients based on your personal beliefs.

Your tasks are to be done in an effective and efficient manner.

When reporting to work make sure you look presentable and not disheveled.

This it what it means to be a Professional Nurse in my opinion.

I never believed that nurses are "Angels in Disguise".

Behave in a way that respects the trust placed in me by my employer and my pt.

Well by nursing we can understood many things...It can be say that any medical treatment comes under nursing..

Learning that it is just as important to know when to LEAVE SOMETHING ALONE as it is to intervene. "First, do no harm."