Whats your favorite part of nursing?

Nurses General Nursing

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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.

Learning! Nursing has such depth and breadth that there is always something to learn. You never get bored. I also love building relationships with my patients.

So far retirement is my favorite ;).

I agree with you. My other favorite was catching something that the doc missed. Once did my assessment 5 minutes after the doc. She charted, lungs CTA bilaterally. I could not hear anything on one side. Chest tube was in one hour later. Gotta love those saves.

Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

The 3 12's per week/four days off (going to see a movie in one hour on a Tuesday!)

Scheduling "flexibility"- I can take a week off without touching PTO. I will be going on a 2 week trip abroad and will only use 36 hours of vacation.

Overtime and PRN work- last year, my PRN job with minimal shifts added another 17k on top of my FT job's wages

Differentials- weekends increase my pay by almost 25%.

The variety- I love working with tiny babies one day and LOLs and LOM the next.

Not being stuck at a desk

And getting the occasional patient or parent who is actually appreciative of the work I do

Seeing the babies grow from barely viable to chunky monkeys who eat like champs and require no respiratory support

Specializes in ambulant care.

Satification and payment is not a diametrial contradiction. :nurse: !!

Specializes in Medicine.

Going home at 1900 hours.....

JUST KIDDING

My favourite is when a patient or family member gives a simple but genuine "thank you" (which I think we all agree that we don't hear enough of) or when they give you a compliment on the care you're giving

My favourite tasks are drawing blood work and changing PICC dressings

I also like having a chance to jump in and help another nurse work on a crashing patient (less stressful when it's not your own patient lol)

Specializes in Cardicac Neuro Telemetry.

I like the science of my job and knowing that I am the eyes and ears of the physicians. It gives me a sense of pride when doctors ask for my opinion or how I think a patient is doing. Or catching something that someone has missed. I also like playing with drips. 😎

I enjoy my elderly patients. Especially the 90-100 year old a&o4 ones. I also like connecting with cool family members and filling in the gaps of the plan of care that may not be well understood. Or just sharing an interesting conversation or too. Teaching is one of my favorite things to do.

I also enjoy the occasional patient who is close to my age (29-35). Most of these are chronically ill individuals and it's nice to do what I can to make them feel better emotionally and physically. Plus, it's nice to share some common ground since a lot of these patients will have similar interests in music, tv, movies, activities, etc.

I guess it's safe to say I enjoy the connection aspect of my job.

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I loved placing IVs and Foleys. Nine times out of 10 I got them in on the first attempt, and most patients were grateful that I did it so quickly. But the thing I loved the most was getting to know my patients over the course of several days and seeing them get better and go home. One time I bumped into a former patient in the department store whom I'd long since forgotten (if they're not in a patient gown, I don't recognize them), and she gave me a big hug and told her friend, "this is the nurse I was telling you about, she's the only one who was nice to me!" Didn't hurt my feelings a bit.

I always loved telling my elderly patients to "walk this way" and then launching into a Groucho Marx walk down the hall. They loved it!

Other than that, I loved loved loved washing them up and tucking them in.

This is a great thread - thank you to all for sharing.

I like therapeutic conversations... you know, the type they try to characterize in nursing school but miss the mark... the kind new nurses may scoff at over learning ACLS... anyway, I love when I can help a patient discuss switching to hospice care, come to terms with a big life change (going to a nursing home), manage expectations of medical treatment... It doesn't happen too often but it's definitely rewarding when it does.

I think what I like so far about nursing is my abilities. I remember being a new grad only a few years ago and being terrified of having an *actually sick* pt. in my ER bed. I was competent in that I knew what to look for and who to go to for help, but I had so much to learn. Now, only 3 years later, to be the one that people come to for help, to have a sick pt. and not only know what to do but being able to do it on my own if the rest of the team is busy. It's an incredible feeling and I know that I'm only going to keep on learning and growing.

Also, I'm really proud of my "across the room" triage skills in that I don't even need to talk to a patient most of the time to see if they're sick. I can pick the sickies out of a room full of people while explaining to the not sickies that they will be seen but it'll take some time. Being able to manage patient expectations and have them thanking me for seeing them after an hour long wait (if I'm in triage) instead of having angry patient's is incredible!

Education. I'm an inpatient dialysis nurse, so the first time patients are getting hooked up to a big scary machine, I'm usually the face they see. I love being able to explain to them the machine and how it works, as.well as diet information, and ino regarding kidney failure and how it affects other processes, like blood counts and blood pressure. Also seeing a uremic patient "wake up" once the dialysis starts clearing toxins. I've had patients go from absolutely confused, mumbling and seeing this gs, to having a coherent conversation in 4 hours!

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