- 10
- Mar
I have wanted to be a nurse since high school and I have never regretted going into nursing school or have wanted to do anything else. So, when people ask me what I think about nursing I have mostly positive things to say. I tell them the opportunity to work 3 days a week is an amazing schedule. There is still time to have a life and travel without being locked down working 5 days a week. The money is good and helping people for a career is rewarding. I meet a lot of interesting people that like to tell their life stories. Some are interesting and some make you wonder what the heck they are talking about. Some people don’t like to converse very much or are unable to speak during some point in their hospital stay, and others won’t let you leave the room. At that point sometimes you have to say, “i’ll be right back”, just so you can go see your other patients. I do realize that I am there for the patient so I usually try and make them feel comfortable by asking them questions about themselves. I think it’s important to make that connection with people when at that moment they just need someone to talk to and make them feel comforted. When I was in the hospital for 4 days with a pelvic fracture from a car accident, I remember one nurse having an impact on me, which was only one of the days I was there. Her name was Jan and I remember that because she is the only nurse that talked to me and bathed me. She washed my legs, which I could not bend down to wash and she asked me questions while she was doing her assessment. I liked her at that moment and thought she was a great nurse for taking the time to talk to me, even though I know she was busy and I didn’t need a lot of care. My perception of the other nurses I had was that they thought I was an otherwise healthy young girl that didn’t need any nursing care and the aid could tend to all my needs. I thought this because I never saw any of the other nurses. Maybe I never saw them because they were having a potluck in the lounge… Come on nurses, you know what I’m talking about! I was in nursing school at the time of my hospitalization, so I was observing the nurse’s behaviors and it didn’t bother me that they didn’t come check on me, but I was hoping to learn something from them. As a nursing student, I worked with this nurse at the hospital I was a patient in and due to her harsh, unfriendly behavior I was glad she was not my nurse. She was scary and I know she hated nursing students. I remember being upset one time because a patient was cussing at me and that was the first time I had experienced that. So, she walks by with her attitude and says, “welcome to nursing” and walks away. I’m not sure how she treated her patients, but I knew I did not want to have an attitude like her and potentially scare my patients. So, in my nursing career I want to be that nurse that the patients like and remember because I took the time to provide great care and go beyond the daily routine of assessments and passing medication.












