Many people who have never been in hospital or who have never had a friend or relative in hospital just assume that our role is to wash and dress patients and fetch them cups of tea. As much as we do this - daily! - our role consists of so much more. A lot more than the average person seems to think.
My friend always jokes with me saying that all I do in a day is hand out sandwiches to old ladies. (I'll be the first to admit, the place I work in, all nursing staff hand out patient meals.) That was until the other day, I removed a skelf from his finger and he apologized for all the sandwich jokes he had ever made. Again, he was joking but it still had a bit of an impact.
Let's start with the basics. There are so many varities of nursing. Seriously.
Adult/General Nursing (People aged 18+. Which is what I studied). Paediatric Nursing (children's nursing). Learning Disabilities Nursing (nursing someone with a learning disability). Mental Health Nursing. Midwifery (yes, a form of nursing).
Within all these bases of nursing you have specialist types of nursing. Community/District, Treatment Room, Parkinsons, Diabetes, Tissue Viability, and that's just to name a few.
I, myself, am an adult nurse. At the moment I work within a Medicine for the Elderly Ward but would love to work as a Community Nurse.
My day is never the same. It's never consistent. Like most jobs.
Today for example, I've washed three patients, served breakfast and lunch, had to change a number of incontinent patients, set up and attach IV's, speak to family members, give out medication, oh, and I've been verbally and physically abused by a confused patient (I have the scratches to prove it). And I'm only half way through my shift. No big deal.
Tomorrow could be completely different though! I could have a bunch of discharges and admissions, someone could fall, someone could become severely unwell, or it will be quiet and I'll have time to sit down and chat with my patients. I feel like I've just completely jinxed my day.
It's not all sunshine and roses. Us nurses don't go skipping down the corridor, hand in hand, with massive grins on our face (well, some of us do. If you're up for a good laugh).
Nursing can be a cruel, cruel game, sometimes, of back stabbing and bitching, being shouted and sworn at, stress, heartbreak, tiredness, and extremely crap shift patterns. Again, that's just to name a few.
I feel most, if not all, nurses go through this. Whether it's a short spat or that's just how their personality generally is. I recently went through a spell of being so fed up, tired and stressed at work that I was getting annoyed at patients asking to go to the toilet. It's a horrible feeling when you know you shouldn't be annoyed at such a small, yet important thing. I really needed a holiday, and I'm delighted to say that I'm now happy when I'm at work...maybe not when I wake up and drive through but definitely once I'm there and working.
I will say this though. Nursing is probably one of the most rewarding jobs...EVER!
Seeing patients smile and thanking you for even the smallest thing warm my heart. Watching a patient arrive to a ward who can't walk or wash themselves, or just have some sort of difficulty doing anything, and then watching them the day they go home and whatever it was that they struggled or couldn't do when they came in they can do now is really amazing. Even just having a good laugh with a patient puts a smile on my face.
The reason I wanted to become a nurse was because I wanted to give something back. The year I left school I worked in an office and studied biology at college. During the first few months my gran was taken into hospital. The support all the nursing staff gave my gran and my family was truly incredible. They took the time to get to know her and us and we were genuinely pleased and happy those people were looking after her. Even the support after she died was amazing. So, naturally, I wanted to be able to give others what my family got and I really do love it.
Do I recommend nursing? Yes. But don't do it because it's an "easy" course, I.e. It's easy to get into. You need to have a caring nature and put others first. BUT also, stand up for yourself. Nursing has its ups and downs and being able to stand your ground is important, don't be too brash though, relatives don't like that.
You'll be put through your paces as a student and as a brand new nurse. In fact even if you're 30 years experienced you'll still be put through your paces. You have to be prepared for anything and everything. From unexpected heart attacks to blood and gory wounds - yes, nurses are majority the first point of call to everything. I'm not saying we're perfect or that we know everything. This job a total learning curve and mistakes do happen. But trust me, we don't just change patients and fetch them cups of tea. We're a lot more knowledgable and technical than you think.
Bekah // SK x
It's not all sunshine and roses. Us nurses don't go skipping down the corridor, hand in hand, with massive grins on our face (well, some of us do. If you're up for a good laugh).
Nursing can be a cruel, cruel game, sometimes, of back stabbing and bitching, being shouted and sworn at, stress, heartbreak, tiredness, and extremely crap shift patterns. Again, that's just to name a few.
I feel most, if not all, nurses go through this. Whether it's a short spat or that's just how their personality generally is. I recently went through a spell of being so fed up, tired and stressed at work that I was getting annoyed at patients asking to go to the toilet. It's a horrible feeling when you know you shouldn't be annoyed at such a small, yet important thing. I really needed a holiday, and I'm delighted to say that I'm now happy when I'm at work...maybe not when I wake up and drive through but definitely once I'm there and working.
I will say this though. Nursing is probably one of the most rewarding jobs...EVER!
Seeing patients smile and thanking you for even the smallest thing warm my heart. Watching a patient arrive to a ward who can't walk or wash themselves, or just have some sort of difficulty doing anything, and then watching them the day they go home and whatever it was that they struggled or couldn't do when they came in they can do now is really amazing. Even just having a good laugh with a patient puts a smile on my face.
The reason I wanted to become a nurse was because I wanted to give something back. The year I left school I worked in an office and studied biology at college. During the first few months my gran was taken into hospital. The support all the nursing staff gave my gran and my family was truly incredible. They took the time to get to know her and us and we were genuinely pleased and happy those people were looking after her. Even the support after she died was amazing. So, naturally, I wanted to be able to give others what my family got and I really do love it.
Do I recommend nursing? Yes. But don't do it because it's an "easy" course, I.e. It's easy to get into. You need to have a caring nature and put others first. BUT also, stand up for yourself. Nursing has its ups and downs and being able to stand your ground is important, don't be too brash though, relatives don't like that.
You'll be put through your paces as a student and as a brand new nurse. In fact even if you're 30 years experienced you'll still be put through your paces. You have to be prepared for anything and everything. From unexpected heart attacks to blood and gory wounds - yes, nurses are majority the first point of call to everything. I'm not saying we're perfect or that we know everything. This job a total learning curve and mistakes do happen. But trust me, we don't just change patients and fetch them cups of tea. We're a lot more knowledgable and technical than you think.
Bekah // SK x
I like your blog a lot. Its informative and full of information. Thank you for sharing.
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