Being a nurse
I've begun my final semester of nursing school: just 67 more days of school until I'm done. I am finally at a point where I feel somewhat competent. Not expert, but knowledgeable enough to not kill someone. This is good. This is very good.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about what it means to be a nurse, and the stereotypes that people seem to hold about us. I participated in orienting the new class last week, and they showed a Johnson and Johnson propaganda video about nursing. J&J has a big campaign out to recruit more people to become nurses. This in and of itself is wonderful. There is a shortage. Today in class we watched another J&J video about nurses during Hurricane Katrina. It was pretty touching.
Something that I keep hearing people say, both in those videos and in general is that nurses are angels. I am tired of hearing this. It is undoubtedly a very high compliment to my almost-profession, and I appreciate the high regard in which many people hold nurses; I really do. But please, for the love of God, do not ascribe superhuman powers or traits to us!
Nurses are human beings. By and large, we are intelligent human beings and caring human beings. We have all been trained to put our intelligence and our caring to the best use we can. Please don't think that this makes us angels. Please don't put us on that pedestal! I make mistakes. Other nurses make mistakes. We have fears. We have disappointments, both in other people and in ourselves. We have bad days (and we have good ones, thankfully).
I love what I do, and I hope that I always will. Most nurses do. The good ones, at least. I appreciate being appreciated. I know other nurses do, as well. But we can't fix everything -- we're not angels. We can't work miracles. What we can do are very human acts of kindness and caring. They're things that anyone is capable of doing, if they open their hearts and just do so.
I may not be able to save someone who has had a massive MI and is coding. I can do my best to, however, and I can hold their hand as they pass, if it comes to that. I can treat their body gently and with caring, when preparing them for their last rest. I can give their family comfort in something as simple sitting with them in silence as they grieve. I may not be able to ever make that bed-ridden patient walk again. I can move them every two hours so that they don't get pressure sores, though, and I can make sure they are treated with dignity and respect. I can remember that they are human, too.
I won't always be able to say the right thing at the right time, but my heart will always be in the right place. That's all I -- or any nurse -- can give anyone. So please don't minimize the effort we make as frail, imperfect human beings to give ourselves to our patients when we're on the job. It's hard. It's tiring, and we have to remember to step back enough that we don't lose ourselves entirely in it.
I'm no angel. I'm not going to try to be one. But I am going to try to be a damn good nurse. It is not perfection that makes nurses great. It's not some angelic kindness. It's rising above our imperfections and giving of ourselves to our patients every day.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about what it means to be a nurse, and the stereotypes that people seem to hold about us. I participated in orienting the new class last week, and they showed a Johnson and Johnson propaganda video about nursing. J&J has a big campaign out to recruit more people to become nurses. This in and of itself is wonderful. There is a shortage. Today in class we watched another J&J video about nurses during Hurricane Katrina. It was pretty touching.
Something that I keep hearing people say, both in those videos and in general is that nurses are angels. I am tired of hearing this. It is undoubtedly a very high compliment to my almost-profession, and I appreciate the high regard in which many people hold nurses; I really do. But please, for the love of God, do not ascribe superhuman powers or traits to us!
Nurses are human beings. By and large, we are intelligent human beings and caring human beings. We have all been trained to put our intelligence and our caring to the best use we can. Please don't think that this makes us angels. Please don't put us on that pedestal! I make mistakes. Other nurses make mistakes. We have fears. We have disappointments, both in other people and in ourselves. We have bad days (and we have good ones, thankfully).
I love what I do, and I hope that I always will. Most nurses do. The good ones, at least. I appreciate being appreciated. I know other nurses do, as well. But we can't fix everything -- we're not angels. We can't work miracles. What we can do are very human acts of kindness and caring. They're things that anyone is capable of doing, if they open their hearts and just do so.
I may not be able to save someone who has had a massive MI and is coding. I can do my best to, however, and I can hold their hand as they pass, if it comes to that. I can treat their body gently and with caring, when preparing them for their last rest. I can give their family comfort in something as simple sitting with them in silence as they grieve. I may not be able to ever make that bed-ridden patient walk again. I can move them every two hours so that they don't get pressure sores, though, and I can make sure they are treated with dignity and respect. I can remember that they are human, too.
I won't always be able to say the right thing at the right time, but my heart will always be in the right place. That's all I -- or any nurse -- can give anyone. So please don't minimize the effort we make as frail, imperfect human beings to give ourselves to our patients when we're on the job. It's hard. It's tiring, and we have to remember to step back enough that we don't lose ourselves entirely in it.
I'm no angel. I'm not going to try to be one. But I am going to try to be a damn good nurse. It is not perfection that makes nurses great. It's not some angelic kindness. It's rising above our imperfections and giving of ourselves to our patients every day.