What We Do As Nurses and Why We Do It

TiredRN51

Unsung colleague

A colleague of mine was recently lamenting that she was worried about her upcoming annual evaluation. Knowing that this veteran RN of many decades was a great nurse, I asked why. She said, that unlike many of the "newbies" (read nurse residents), she was not that proficient in her electronic documentation (read, charting), and didn't serve on any hospital committees.

Experienced nurse

This nurse is habitually consulted by, and frequently rescues her younger coworkers, whenever they get into a situation in which they have no knowledge or experience. She is usually the one starting the IV no one else can, or troubleshooting the difficult foley insertion. Her nursing skills are flawless, but it is her bedside manner that she is "unknown" for. Too often in today's "modern nursing style" the nurse briefly interacts with the patient, and promptly exit's the room for a rendezvous with the nearest computer (or iPhone). As an aging relic in nursing myself, I understand the need for documentation. My colleague and I are cut from a different kind of cloth (read nursing school decades ago). We prefer to invest our time with the patient, rather than the PC. For us nursing is more than a quick stop to answer a call light, and then data entry (read documentation). Nursing is rather quality time spent meeting the patient's entire needs, be they physical or mental (read psychosocial). My associate is often the one reassuring the frighten or desolate patient, offering a shoulder to cry on, or perhaps providing a soothing cough drop when needed. She is the type that looks at the "big picture", "connects the dots" and often sees what others have missed in the clinical picture.

Counseling my colleague

Knowing all this about my colleague, I counseled her in this manner. I told her to not be afraid of what may come from her evaluation. That process is a mere snapshot of her practice. What is most important is what she thinks of herself, and the job she has done. A poor comment in an evaluation may sting, but it's "what they don't see" that's important. A manager will never see the little elderly lady that you sat with, and listened to far into the night. She was worried and alone. How she felt 100% better after talking to you, and slept peacefully the rest of the night. Or, perhaps the patient in so much pain they couldn't get comfortable. A manager will never know how you washed their face, administered medication, rubbed their back, positioned them, and left them without further distress. These are things that few, if anyone, ever see in the practice of nursing. There is a lot of "unknown undocumented" care that goes on all the time in our profession. It is not as "sensational" as saving someone's life, but is as just essential. Modern medicine and nursing have a lot of advanced high tech modalities that have come to embody today's health care. Yet, it is the basic "bare bones" nursing care (read time spent with the patients.) that makes the vital difference in our patient's recovery. Gently holding a patients hand, a reassuring smile, or just taking the time to give of ourselves is often more beneficial today than any dressing change, CT scan, inhalation treatment, or surgical procedure. The discipline of medicine does a lot of things to patients; the discipline of nursing should do a lot of things for patients.

Why do people enter nursing?

People do not enter nursing to make a lot of money. They don't enter nursing for power or stature. It is not a glamorous profession. As nurses, we frequently do our jobs in the background and unnoticed by the public. We perform our duty in a routine, quiet and unobtrusive manner. We did not earn a degree in Performance Arts, where every excellence is measured by applause. We earned our degree in Nursing, a profession of quiet selflessness and service to mankind (read unsung heroes). I also told my colleague that, it's not complements from one's manager, or others that keeps us going as professionals.

The reward

It's that feeling you get when you're driving home after your shift. The feelings that you know you have done the right thing for your patients. You may not have rescued them from a critical situation, but you left them better off than when you came. Your care achieved for your patients: Safety, cleanliness, comfort, the absence of pain, being at ease emotionally, and able to handle another day in the juggernaut of today's health care environment.

This is the feeling that puts you at ease!

This is the feeling that tells you, you have done your best!

This is the feeling that nourishes your soul!

This is the feeling that sustains us all as nurses

...And, it's something they can never take away from you!