Whats your favorite part of nursing?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I won't repeat the title but what do you guys think?

Help during codes...

Patients education...

Assist in families during the grieving process...

I'll tell you mine...I like catching things that doctors and respiratory therapists may overlook or miss completely. It keeps me on my toes and is an instant reminder that I make a difference.

It could be something stupid like rounding on your patient who's wheezing and in respiratory distress. The physician rounds and orders a set of ABGs, steroids IV, chest X-ray and a set of labs including enzymes. After all said and done you assess your patient and realize that his nasal O2 has been disconnected this entire time. You hook him back up and his sat goes up to 96% and the wheezing gradually dissipates.

Forming relationships with my patients, and being there for them during the best and worst times of their lives. I also love learning something new every day!

Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

When I worked nights in the hospital - 37 years ago - I liked the quiet time around 2am. That's when my worried/scared/overwhelmed patients couldn't sleep. Often, they didn't need or want a sleeping pill (kinda late to give it, anyway). What they needed was a listening ear. I didn't solve their problems, but I helped them just the same.

I remember one time I almost got in trouble while working intensive care surgery. I was sitting in the dark, listening to my patient. She needed to talk; she had just gone through brain surgery for newly diagnosed cancer. The light was off because it bothered her eyes. Since this was my only patient that night, I didn't mind staying.

The other nurses couldn't find me! They thought I must have left the unit! (I was a float nurse; they didn't know me.) Finally, someone checked my patient, and found us.

I watched the charge nurse visibly calm herself down. She agreed I hadn't done anything wrong, but asked me to tell someone first if I did that again.

Several months later, I took care of that same patient in MedSurg. Her cancer had progressed, and she was weak and sick, but she remembered me and thanked me.

You definitely get a lot of stories from being in this line of work. How many stories do you hear about performing CPR on someone in the bathroom and having to assist in an intubation on the women next door?

I love the feeling I get when the patients and their families are thankful.

I think a lot of healing comes with just listening to people. People have to vent and that includes patients. They are probably at the worst and most scared. There is a sort of therapy by just sitting down listening to someone even if you don't provide feedback. Unfortunately where I work, we don't have the opportunity to listen as much. There's just too much going on meds, tests, admissions etc. I feel bad when people start talking about their lives because more often than not I cut them short and leave the room to keep afloat in a shift that i'm drowning in.

Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.
I think a lot of healing comes with just listening to people. People have to vent and that includes patients. They are probably at the worst and most scared. There is a sort of therapy by just sitting down listening to someone even if you don't provide feedback. Unfortunately where I work, we don't have the opportunity to listen as much. There's just too much going on meds, tests, admissions etc. I feel bad when people start talking about their lives because more often than not I cut them short and leave the room to keep afloat in a shift that i'm drowning in.

It was different, back in the day. We had time ....

When I worked nights in the hospital...

I love this story, Kitiger! Thank you for sharing! ❤️ I hope I can be a lot like you someday.

Specializes in Case manager, float pool, and more.

I like listening to patient's stories. Taking the time to get to know a little about the person not the patient. I enjoy being an advocate and hearing thank you.

Specializes in Critical Care and ED.

I like taking care of really sick patients, on multiple drips, intubated, sedated, paralyzed, pressors, IABP, CRRT.....the real ICU patient. I love the challenge and I kind of lose myself in it and find time flies. That's my favorite kind of patient.

I like getting paid every two weeks

Specializes in Hematology-oncology.

This quote puts what I love about nursing into words better than I ever could. "As it turns out, I haven't saved the world. I've had a hand in saving some lives and have, I hope, made small differences in the lives of many. Occasionally, patients express their gratitude. some send us cards, some leave us chocolate. But external validation, the adoration and accolades of others, can't sufficiently make my job feel worth it. My job is worth it because I go home, on most days, with the feeling that I've at least broken even--I've put back at least as much as I've withdrawn from the karmic bank. It's a blessing in my life that I've been given the opportunity to be useful in my corner of the world. Today, that's enough for me."

It's from a very good book by Lee Gutkind. Here's the link to the book on Goodreads. I highly recommend it, no matter where you are at in your nursing career :)

I Wasn't Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse by Lee Gutkind

Catching things that the residents miss. Advocating for my patients. Calming new parents . Overtime .

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