For Nurses
I'd Still Be A Nurse Because...
It seems there are many days when the effort expended to care for patients, embrace families, and service the needs of physicians and administrators leaves little energy left to care at the end of the day. I look for avenues of renewal through volunteer work, exercise, and reading.
Nursing chose me. For years, my mother reminded me of my desire to care. I brought home kittens, injured birds, and even a rat from a college nutrition program. Pat the Rat, named after Pat Nixon, went on to live a long life. I don't recall if he survived Nixon's resignation.
When I take time to reflect, I realize my desire to care remains strong. Most recently, the busyness of the day had been keeping me from the desperate need to use the ladies' room. As I tried to duck in to the public bathroom on the way to a meeting, I came upon a woman and her daughter trying to navigate the entrance with a wheelchair. After assisting them through the door and into the bathroom, I discovered another elderly woman struggling to clean up the floor in the next stall. Needless to say, her embarrassment caused her to be somewhat confused and befuddled. I helped her and then escorted her back to the treatment area, getting her settled with the help of a patient care technician.
Appreciation was written all over the woman's face as she smiled at me. A sigh of relief demonstrated her ability to relax after what may have been a long struggle. These moments occur quickly and without warning, and many caregivers fail to grasp the significance of these bites in time.
As I think about all the people touched every minute during every day, I realize that my capacity to care outweighs the brief interruptions I experience daily. I feel rewarded, not deprived. After 30 years, I continue to have the same capacity to care as when I first recited the Florence Nightingale pledge. Nursing continues to choose me.
