...something happens that redeems my faith in the human condition. When one of my patients was discharged in the wee hours of this morning, the tech who cleaned the room brought me this little note that'd been left on the bed, written on paper towel.
This past few weeks I've had an unusual number of patients tell me it's obvious I love my job, praise my care or my bedside manner, in general say nice things to me (with more sincerity than the sweetly manipulative elderly gal who called us "my angels of the evening"). And I think it figures. That used to be the way it was before "the other place" went the way of Guns n' Roses and morale slid into the shitter.
I'm remembering how it feels to be appreciated, valued for the way I do my job and the way I love what I do, and even compensated more appropriately. I'm enjoying sitting down at a patient's bedside and talking to them. Joking with patients, you'd be amazed how sick people can really be and still grin at something funny. Helping calm their fears as I explain whatever it is I'm doing. Loving to answer questions as I've always done, in down-to-earth terms people can understand. Rediscovering the human aspect of nursing. I'm finding more and more little things that make me say "Yup. That's why I'm an ER nurse." And that's a wonderful holiday-season gift.
This past few weeks I've had an unusual number of patients tell me it's obvious I love my job, praise my care or my bedside manner, in general say nice things to me (with more sincerity than the sweetly manipulative elderly gal who called us "my angels of the evening"). And I think it figures. That used to be the way it was before "the other place" went the way of Guns n' Roses and morale slid into the shitter.
I'm remembering how it feels to be appreciated, valued for the way I do my job and the way I love what I do, and even compensated more appropriately. I'm enjoying sitting down at a patient's bedside and talking to them. Joking with patients, you'd be amazed how sick people can really be and still grin at something funny. Helping calm their fears as I explain whatever it is I'm doing. Loving to answer questions as I've always done, in down-to-earth terms people can understand. Rediscovering the human aspect of nursing. I'm finding more and more little things that make me say "Yup. That's why I'm an ER nurse." And that's a wonderful holiday-season gift.