It's hard to believe that it has been over a year and a half now since I started my nursing career. I always heard that I would learn more in my first year working as nurse than I ever did in nursing school. And goodness was this true! I didn't know how many things I "didn't know" until I was working day in and day out on my unit.
As I look back, I think of so many things I wish that I had known starting out as a "baby nurse." I wanted to capture some of them into a post and share them in case any of you are about to start on your nursing journey! To all my nurses out there, I'd love to hear any suggestions you have as well!
Never apologize for asking questions.
I remember apologizing to my supervisor about my endless stream of questions while I was a couple months into orientation. Sweet Shannon told me that the day I STOP asking questions is the day she will start to get worried. There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a second opinion, verifying something you are uncertain about, or even just giving yourself some peace of mind by having another set of eyes on your patient. If something just feels "off" it probably is. Your instincts are so important! There's no such thing as a "dumb" question. The moment you get too comfortable to ask for help is the moment you need to step back and remember how important your job is!
Mistakes happen. LEARN from them, and don't let them derail you.
You are NOT going to be perfect. Go into work expecting to do everything perfectly, and your first misstep will crush you. I remember a mistake I made while I was on orientation. It may not have had a negative impact on my patient but it had a HUGE impact on me. I remember just feeling a renewed sense of the seriousness of what I do each and every day. The idea of even making the tiniest error terrified me, and it's still something I struggle with every day. But it's not something that I let overwhelm me to the point that I can't do a good job as a nurse. Be careful. Double, triple, quadruple check your work if you have to! Take that extra set of vitals. Call the doctor even if you think he may be upset with you for bothering him or her. Ask for help if you need it. But don't carry the burden of always having to perform flawlessly. Nobody is capable of that, and it certainly won't be anyone's reality as a nurse.
Take care of yourself!
I've learned that nurses are fantastic about taking care of other people and absolutely terrible about taking care of themselves. I am 100% guilt of this! Sometimes it's okay to say no when someone asks you to pick up another shift. Sometimes it's okay to let that patient wait on a popsicle while you run to the bathroom for the first time in hours. Sometimes it's okay to take minute to breathe and regroup. If you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of other people. Find accountability. Check in on your fellow nurses and ask them if they are okay! Sometimes they aren't, but they just don't have the courage to say it themselves. Reach out to those around you and open up to them so that they can be there for YOU when you need them.
You're going to get affected too.
To some extent you do need to distance yourself from your patients enough to provide them with the care they need in the moment. Yet some patients are just plain going to pull on your heart a little more than others. There are times when you need to be strong for the families you are caring for. But I'd be lying if I said there aren't times when I need to step into the bathroom or close my car door at the end of a long shift and cry for a little bit. Those crushing diagnoses, those heart-wrenching cries of pain, those blank looks of despair...they touch our hearts too. I once had a parent tell me that they could never be a nurse because they "care too much." At first I was taken aback and questioned for moment whether nursing really hardened me THAT much! Then I paused to really think about it. As nurses, we don't push through the frustration, tears, and pain just because we are stoic machines mechanically going through the motions. We have two mountains to overcome: the emotions and sadness we feel as we treat our patients and the power we must embrace to lean into what we know must be done. In their most vulnerable moments, people need nurses who truly DO CARE enough to take that hard next step and do what is right. It doesn't mean we don't see (and feel) your pain. It just means that we care enough about you to help you walk through it.
SLOW DOWN.
I have always been strong-spirited, and anyone who knows me well has certainly experienced this My poor family put up with my impetuous nature as a child, and I now have gotten a taste of it in some of my little patients! Patience is a virtue I absolutely needed to grow in, and nursing has been the best place to do just that. I've learned more about pausing and slowing down to truly walk through the emotions they are feeling in even the simplest of procedures. Just last week I walked into a child's room who was terrified of having his IV pulled. Now I certainly could have slid that IV out in under a minute, applied a band-aid and some gauze and sent him on his way. The job would have gotten done, but I also probably would have succeeded at utterly traumatizing the poor child when it came to IV sticks! Instead, I explained the procedure carefully, allowed him to help me soak and gently peel off the tape, and talked about other things while we worked through it together. Instead of racing out the door the moment I discharge him, tears came to his eyes as he gave me a huge hug and said he was going to miss me. It made me so happy to make even the smallest difference in what could have been an incredibly traumatic experience. We are always, always, rushing from one thing to another. Imagine what a difference it might make to slow down just a little bit. Take some time to pause. Regroup! Focus on the people around you. They might need a little extra time from you, and that's okay. I promise it will be worth it!
You can do this.
I've done things as a nurse I wouldn't have thought possible. I've made it through seemingly endless days of frustrated families, clotted labs, removed NG tubes, short-staffing, emotional chaos, and sometimes just pure exhaustion. There have been moments when all I can do is close my eyes for a moment and pray for the strength to make it through the next hour. It's at times like these that I cling to 2 Corinthians 12:9: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.'" Knowing that Christ works best when I am at my weakest is literally the most comforting truth I can hold onto. I'd so much rather be working through His power and not my own. His grace is sufficient. HE will get me through.
Nursing is a work of the heart.
I have a little keychain charm that has a "nurse's prayer" on it. "Lord, guide my heart and hands as I care for my patients today." If my heart is not in the right place, I don't want to even try doing anything with my hands. No matter how exhausted I am I ALWAYS need to start my day in God's Word, even if it is just a few verses. It gives me something to lean on when my heart is feeling especially weary. Physical and emotional pain are not separated. They are so intricately woven together that the treatment of the hands and the heart become one at times. Never see your patient as a task on a to do list or a number on a door. They are a living, breathing, feeling, hurting human being who needs a nurse with both skilled hands AND a tender heart.
I LOVE MY JOB!!!
If I didn't love nursing, I couldn't do it. It's far harder than I ever could have imagined, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But it is also the most rewarding wonderful profession I could dream of. The privilege of being able to pursue my passion is something that still takes me aback at times!! There are so many little moments of joy and delight in the midst of the exhaustion and frustration. There are so many opportunities to show even the tiniest shadow of the grace God has absolutely lavished upon me this past year. There are so many families I have worked with that will forever hold a special place in my heart. I truly do love what I do, and I want to thank each and every one of you who have made this dream possible for me. I love you guys, and your prayers, support, and encouragement mean the world to me!!
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