Advanced Directives
When asked what I do when I am at work I often have a problem just laying my finger on particular nursing things. When you say “I give out medicines, I start IVs, I make sure my patient’s are comfortable, etc.” It is almost like people are disappointed and confused why I am so tired when I get off work. People do not understand that I am a patient advocate, I hold hands that are scared, I have mastered keeping a baby asleep while I do an assessment, I take stress away from parents, I listen, I watch, I walk between rooms until my feet cannot walk anymore and chart when I can.
But when reflecting on what I do that is just nursing I feel that those things are the things that I have to do to maintain my job. Those things involve following a doctor’s orders, giving and receiving report, charting, and following my hospital’s policies. The things that are just nursing I feel are those things that you are trained to do. I feel that nursing school is a large part of learning what is “just nursing.” We learn how to assess, how to calculate drugs, how to hang IV fluids, how to start an IV all of those things that are necessary in clinical settings. We also must know what to do when certain situations arise such as an allergic reaction or a code. We have to be able to act and think quickly.
However I feel that people, and even ourselves, do not give us credit that we chose to be “just a nurse.” All of those things mentioned above are nursing techniques that make our jobs what they are. There is so much more though to be just a nurse than those things. We take those things that are “just nursing” and add what makes us a nurse to them. We give our hearts to our patients and make sure their needs are met before our own. We hold going to the bathroom until we feel our bladders are going to explode. In the video “Sentimental Women Need Not Apply” a nurse is in bed and is having trouble getting out of bed by stating “I can’t. I am too tired.” The elder nurse responds to her
But when reflecting on what I do that is just nursing I feel that those things are the things that I have to do to maintain my job. Those things involve following a doctor’s orders, giving and receiving report, charting, and following my hospital’s policies. The things that are just nursing I feel are those things that you are trained to do. I feel that nursing school is a large part of learning what is “just nursing.” We learn how to assess, how to calculate drugs, how to hang IV fluids, how to start an IV all of those things that are necessary in clinical settings. We also must know what to do when certain situations arise such as an allergic reaction or a code. We have to be able to act and think quickly.
However I feel that people, and even ourselves, do not give us credit that we chose to be “just a nurse.” All of those things mentioned above are nursing techniques that make our jobs what they are. There is so much more though to be just a nurse than those things. We take those things that are “just nursing” and add what makes us a nurse to them. We give our hearts to our patients and make sure their needs are met before our own. We hold going to the bathroom until we feel our bladders are going to explode. In the video “Sentimental Women Need Not Apply” a nurse is in bed and is having trouble getting out of bed by stating “I can’t. I am too tired.” The elder nurse responds to her
References: Garey, D. (Writer), & Hott, L. (Writer) (1988). Sentimental women need not apply. [DVD]. Godon, S. & Nelson, S. (2005, May). An end to angels. American Journal of Nursing, 105(5), 62-69.