12 Days of Nursing...(reasons to stick with it)
1. You have a great education. You worked hard for it. No one can take that away from you.
2. A crappy assignment won’t last forever, but you may appreciate the great assignments a little more. At worst, you’re stuck for 12 hours or maybe a three day stretch - at best, you may actually find you learned something vital out of the shittiest of days.
3. You might be irritated with recertifications, repeating BCLS, ACLS, PALS etc., that’s required every two years. You may be irritated at mandatory mock codes, you may roll your eyes at simulations in nursing school. But you’ll find yourself thrown in an unpredictable, emergent situation and your hands may shake, but they’re well practiced hands and they’ll know what to do.
4. Making errors doesn’t make you a crappy nurse. You learn, and you remember.
5. You may feel like you’re running a marathon, jumping through hoops all day; playing detective to figure out what’s happening with patients, mediator between arguing doctors and family members, standing up to administration - but there’s sometimes a moment when you realize how pivotal the role of nursing is in advocacy for patient care, patient rights, and nurse’s rights. And you would do it all over again, no regrets.
6. You may be a new graduate, and wondering how the heck nursing school is so completely different from reality, you may be feeling like you can’t do this on your own, but then there’s that one coworker who unfailingly supports you. The coworker who saves you (and the patient) from a mess. The coworker who remembers what it’s like to be new and unsure of clinical decisions.
7. You may find yourself wondering if you’re in the right field when nothing seems to go right, but then there’s also a little voice that speaks up, saying you’re not a quitter and you just get on with it.
8. You may feel stuck in the wrong position, the wrong unit, the wrong hospital, but nursing has a diverse amount of opportunities. . Switch it up, change your focus, change your mindset, change your situation. Just because they’re not happening now doesn’t meant they won’t at some point. Keep going.
9. There may be days you will need support, but there’s days when you’re the supporter - and there’s no greater feeling than standing by a friend/coworker when they are in need.
10. You take the good shifts with the crappy shifts. There may be aggressive patients, persistent family members, pointless meetings/inservices that disrupt your day, but there’s also patients who touch your soul and remind you why you love what you do, and perhaps just be grateful for simple things in life.
11. You may feel tired, run down, you may feel burned out, but look up; you’re not alone. You have a phenomenal team of nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, unit clerks, transporters, nursing assistants, and pharmacists who are right there with you. If you’ve got a good group of coworkers, ones you can laugh with about it all, you can make your way through any of the tough times, or chaotic situations.
12. Trust yourself. You know a lot more than you think you do. Trust your instincts, trust you will know the times when you’re out of your depth and need help - trust you’re learning, and evolving, even when it doesn’t feel like it. Trust yourself, you can do this. Don’t give in.
stormborns
2087
gracieabrams
romaincrisis
