For Nurses Only
Thank you for listening. And so the story goes to say what shall we begin with next. Let’s think about how you can accomplish whatever it is that is holding you back from succeeding in your current goals for your patients and for you. Is it that maybe you just don’t want it anymore or is it you are under so much pressure from people saying “your day starts at 8:00 in the morning and ends at 4:30 in the afternoon,” and this is what you tell your patients, “I don’t work after 4:30,”yet these same people forget that there is still life after 4:30pm. When I first started working at a Home Care company out of state I was not familiar with the area, I visited a patient at 7:30 pm, one of her daughters made the comment, “I am so glad you came over, I didn’t think you worked this late and I was so worried about my mom and not knowing what to do for her, thank you so much.” “Thank you for listening.” All you ever wanted to do is to help others who need you the most and all there ever is is someone always telling you to hurry up, hurry up. How can we hurry up with each and every patient when each and every patient has their own individual needs? Some patients and their families or caregivers need our time more than others yet we forget to see our patients as a whole and have a tendency to overlook needs that aren’t being met as they should, and why, again I say there is always someone telling us to “hurry up, hurry up.” We are supposed to be teaching our patients and caregivers how to manage on their own as they once did before they needed us yet I saw a patient this past Saturday for a dressing change and her husband said to me, “I need some help with the medications, filling the weekly med planner, I don’t know what goes where, so and so just does it for me but I want to learn how to do it too.” Especially when they are capable and willing to do it themselves and are asking to. And the gratification I received was just taking the time he needed to learn how to fill that box of pills for his wife, the struggling through his confusion he did throughout the whole process, watching his hands shake from the nervousness to make sure he did not miss a pill in each slot, reading the medication list with me showing him how and double-checking each pill and how many there were supposed to be of each, cutting a pill in half as prescribed, making sure the correct medication and dose on the paper and the medicine bottle matched before putting the pill into the slots, not giving up even when he was frustrated, seeing the overwhelming sigh of relief taking a big deep breath with the biggest smile on is face then feeling good about himself that he was able to do it and not have to worry knowing someone was there taking the time to help him. Yes this is true, some definitely have forgotten why they really wanted to be a Nurse in the first place and then get so caught up in the games as time goes by they have a harder time finding their way back to where they started from. Some of you still remember why you wanted to be a Nurse to begin with and “after how many years” you are still back at where and why you are a Nurse, well good for you if only those others who have forgotten could also find their way back and not be afraid of it either. No it’s not that you don’t want it anymore you are just so tired of seeing those Nurses who have forgotten where they came from. We all started from the very beginning, we’ve all worn the same shoes way back when, however many of them have changed their shoes, changed their shoes so as not to fit properly and when they see someone who still has the same shoes on their memories of whom they once were and how they felt come through. Maybe it is because they know deep down inside they “wish” they could find where they put those very first pair of shoes and would like to put them on again but then they feel as if they would break down that wall and start to feel again. Who wants to feel again when they get so comfortable in the place their at right now and it is very accepted to those around them? They are afraid to be who they once were, a compassionate and caring Nurse who set out to help those others who needed them the most and yet there are still so many out there that still need them. I think it is either laziness, no I think it’s more so they are afraid to feel that compassion again they once had. We can blame it on the changing healthcare in that paperwork/computer documentation is more important than bedside care, how many of you still believe bedside care is most important to your patients and that the paperwork or computer documentation comes second? Patients have a tendency to heal quicker with a warm smile rather than “excuse me I need to get this paperwork done first before I can sit with you that is if I have the time to sit with you.” And it just keeps continuing on and on and on and who are we really neglecting here, it’s the patients. I had a patient recently tell me, “all the Nurses that come over here have to plug in their computer, turn it on and wait until it boots up and their computer is so slow and I am sitting here watching them thinking why are they here if I have to wait for them, I thought they were supposed to be here to take care of me.” Another patient once said to me, the Nurse took my blood pressure and then sat over there on the couch to finish their work in the computer, they didn’t spend any time with me.” And the more patients are neglected due to the increased pressures of “documentation” and current comfortability the slower they heal and then eventually they die from depression due to lack of old fashioned gentle touch and a warm smile and someone just to sit down and say “hello, how are you today?” or “Thank you, is there anything else I can do for you before I go?” Yes we can still have that most precious contact and still get our paperwork done but please don’t ever ever forget what is most important to your patients. All it takes is just 5 minutes to sit down and listen to them, they are people too and just as important. Now if any of you happen to ever have been a patient and how were you taken care of, or will ever be a patient how would you want to be taken care of by your Nurse? Take some time and think about it, take some time to reflect back upon why it is you really wanted to be a Nurse. Go back to the very beginning to the day you said or thought “I want to be a Nurse” and remember what your reason was and then look at where you are at now. Do you still think and feel the same way you did that very first day. Take as much time as you need for this is not a timed test it is to find yourself again and when you are ready, please, if you choose to do so share this with all. And, if you would like to, let me know if you have found those shoes and if you are willing to put them back on again. Thank you all for listening….
Put them back on? I never took them off. What an awesome narrative! I share your sentiment especially trying to do nursing from your heart in this cold and insensitive healthcare climate and those people who carry out their duties without regard for perceived or expressed need are living proof that it's possible to educate anybody to carry out duties. Nurses are really born, not made.
Good luck,
R
Thumbs up! Thanks for the post.
Great article. Thanks for the read.
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