As you look around, and see the familiar faces of your fellow nurses today, look past the image that you see everyday, look past any conflicts that you may have, and think about what defining moment in that person's life, made them decide to become a nurse, to decide to care for people everyday, day in and day out, working long hours, sacrificing their families for their education.
My defining moment came when I was working as a nurses aide, with an LPN, unlike I had ever met. She would hardly sit down her entire shift. Her face would be red, and she would have sweat dripping off of her, because she had been helping me on the floor when we were short staffed. She never cut corners, and always went the extra mile for her patients. I had asked her, why she wanted to work in a nursing home, why hadn't she wanted to be a real nurse and work in a hospital. I found that answer out for myself. One evening, I had brought all of the residents out of the dining room, and had laid all of them down, but one. This particular resident was a frail little lady, that was everybody's favorite. She had been gradually losing weight, and had been refusing to eat. This LPN was still out at the table, feeding her, I remember her saying," Come on Leta, one more bite, just for me," and Leta would take another bite, just for her. I knew at that moment that she was a REAL nurse, one with compassion, one that cared about the individual residents that she had built a rapport with. And at that moment, I knew I wanted to be a nurse, I wanted to be just like that nurse that had enough patience to sit and feed a little old lady, a few more bites, knowing that she still had things that needed to be done before she could go home to her family.
That nurse was my sister, she passed away in 2001 with breast cancer. I am still striving to be that nurse, any time I want to take the easy way out, or take a short cut, I hear her voice saying, "Come on Sherry, go the extra mile, just for me."
Think back to your moment, remind yourself everytime that you are feeling burnt out, why you became a nurse, what got you to this point in your life, and celebrate the fact that you are a nurse and you are appreciated.
I wrote this for our inservice at work for National Nurses Week, interested in your defining moments
