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Showing posts with label nurses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nurses. Show all posts

3/19/2011

Crazy

CRAZY
As you know I am a nurse. I love my profession and it really does take
a special person to make it in this field. We go to school and study hard to
obtain our degree. We feel compassion and hopeless sometimes and both cry and
laugh on any given day with our patients. We take care of people from all aspects of life and we are affected
by both their sorrows and joys. The thing that bothers me is that people have who have
access to the wonderful world wide web think that they can google a symptom and immediately they
have the knowledge to make decisions and tell the Dr what test to order , what meds to give
and pretty much write their own treatment. Google supplies all the info in seconds which it takes us
years to study. We take pharmacology and microbiology, speech to learn to talk to people and
algebra so we don't make medication errors. We spend years of our life to learn to care for the needs
of others and we do stand by the oath also to do no harm. We are many times treated less than human.
Many people are mean and will report you at the drop of a hat. We really are treated like slaves.
I know this is not popular and many may not understand but I speak the truth. Nursing is hard, stressful
and many times nurses are abused. Throw working a shift when there is a full moon and that adds fuel to
the fire. People really are Crazy on a full moon. Now if you are reading this and have an encounter with a
nurse please go out of your way to be nice. If she is not in your room when the call light goes off please
realize that she may just be helping someones granny up out of the floor or cleaning someone who has
had an accident in the bed. She may be trying to talk someones grandpa into taking his necessary pills which
he is reluctant to take. She may be listening to someone who will not quit talking and let her leave. All of this while she may have 7 or 8 other patients who need and demand her at the same time. What I am saying
is that if she is not there when you need her remember that she is human too and can only be in one place
at a time. She may not be the lazy uncaring person you perceive her to be. She may be struggling to do a
good job and just overwhelmed by the task at hand. So please be gentle. Write her name in to recommend her and those cards and cookies really do make a difference. Maybe even send something in nice to acknowledge the nurse who was not your favorite. I work in ICU and have 2 patients at a time and my life is
pretty good but I see floor nurses mistreated and disrespected each day. Take a minute and say a nice word one of which is thanks.

10/27/2009

Anger Within

He is in his 40's. The prime of his life assured. Invincible , on top of the world, that was a few months ago. A few months ago when he first noticed that nagging cough which would not quit. That increased shortness of breath. Finally, reluctantly he sought medical attention. Test were done and a short time later he learned that the the little nagging cough which irritated him was a giant. A giant called Cancer. Lung cancer which has now spread to multiple places throughout his body. Cancer which he will probably battle for the rest of his life. He has no hair. His bald head glimmers in the glow of the bright exam light. Angrily he yells out. Yells at his family, the nurses and anyone else within close proximity. Every touch brings pain as his skin is sensitive to the slightest touch. His pain level increased and unrelieved by even the strongest medications. He is mad. He comes across as a mean bully. Some of the nurses say that they don't want to go into his room. He is so verbally abusive. He screams out at everything. He demands water, He demands food, He demands attention. He is what the medical field would call non compliant. I step back briefly from the obvious and realize I would be mad to. It is one of the only things left which he can control. It is now that I realize I am saying a small faint prayer. Lord help me to see through his anger and be sensitive to his loss. Help me to listen and to be what he needs at this time. Help me be able to see through the anger, the anger within.