Has anyone ever thought about how their own personal qualities can both help and hinder them in their nursing practice?
For example, I've been very frustrated at work lately. When I think about why, one thing that comes to mind is my desire to be efficient, productive and successful. I'm very detailed and goal-oriented and set out everyday with a list of things I hope to accomplish.
This mindset is a strength in that I am typically very good at ensuring that all important issues are addressed. However, it is a weakness because I can become very frustrated when things don't go as planned. I become annoyed when a patient’s preferences or needs change my plan for the day or the week. In my mind, I know my work is about the patient, and not myself. However, my desire to accomplish every goal every day, and my tendency to be very list-focused, sometimes causes me to forget this. I get angry when I'm not able to get something done, and I have to take breaks to adjust my priorities. I force myself to focus on the patients and not on myself. This can be very challenging for me to do when I'm frustrated.
I can also be a bit of a perfectionist--I don't like any mistakes of any kind. Therefore, when I am working on something that requires me to focus on the details, such as entering a medication order, I get easily annoyed when someone interrupts me. I forget that they are just looking for help and not trying to bother me. On the plus side, I have found and corrected many mistakes by being detail oriented.
How about you? What are your examples? How do you try to correct your weaknesses to make you a better nurse?
Of course that's the usual way those conversations go. For the vast majority of nurses we are working because we can't afford not to. Our complaints, no matter how valid have about about zero influence on the decision makers in those administrative offices and in many cases rocking the boat too hard becomes a one way ticket off the merry-go-round.
The only viable option to get off the merry-go-round voluntarily becomes looking for a different job which may or may not be an improvement over their current situation. So even changing employment voluntarily is a bit of a risk as the grass is definitely not always greener.
Feeling somewhat powerless in your career, knowing at the end of the day you have no real influence in policy decisions that directly affect your ability to do your job and knowing your options for alternate employment are likely limited and likely no better than where you are is a hard pill to swallow. Hence the administration bad, nurses good mantra. We have to have some outlet where we can somewhat safely vent our frustration's and this site with it's cover of anonymonity fits the bill.
On a scale, a spectrum, Hoosier, I saw you as being in the medium when it came to acidity level. You are 7, neutral, not too sweet, but not tart. Whereas members like Emergent and me are more acidic. Emergent's about a 4 and I'm 2 or 3.
JBMmom is on the other end of the scale, more alkaline, basic, and is an emulsion to types like me. In an intervention with an acting out patient, JBMmom would always play the good cop and I would always play the bad.
Davey Do, just so you know: I'll be stealing this acidity level ranking. I'm over here, chuckling to myself, ranking myself and former coworkers...
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
2 minutes ago, Raven Sierra said:
Davey Do, just so you know: I'll be stealing this acidity level ranking. I'm over here, chuckling to myself, ranking myself and former coworkers...
Steal away, Raven Sierra, and use it in good will to gauge behavior!
Recognizing behavioral traits is a systematic process a lot like identifying the symptoms of a disease. "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck" can be applied to personality types. Once we identify a personality type, we can foresee situational behaviors.
Modus operandi. People rarely act outside of theirs.
I am highly empathic. Very connected to my patients and others on a deep level. This can be a strength as a nurse and is the main reason why I became a nurse. I wanted to help make people feel better. It became a weakness when I didn't implement firm boundaries and did not practice self care. Over the years I have learned how to integrate both into my lifestyle as a practice.
HiddenAngels
1,089 Posts
You said it! We're hamsters..