1. This job is exhausting. For you Fitbit wearers out there, I start clinicals at 6:45am and lock up 10,000 steps by 1:00pm. That’s roughly 5 miles in non-fitbit language. I without a doubt underestimated how hard this job is on a person’s body.
2. Everyone needs a great pair of sweatpants, especially nurses and CNAs. There is nothing better than coming home after a 9-hour shift and throwing comfort on. 3. Every shift is going to be a collage of feelings. Residents are going to be unwittingly hilarious. Individuals are going to tell you they want to die. You will cheer the smallest successes people have. Patience will be tested. Butts will be wiped. Sympathy and empathy need to override pity and sadness. And how you feel about your actions at the end of the day makes all the feelings worth it. 4. I’m not as physically strong as I thought. I’m finding out that all those times I skipped crunches and core at the gym to crush free weights was probably not the best look. Its one thing to throw 60 pound dumbbells around and a whole ‘nother beast to roll or move a person safely and efficiently. 5. I’m mentally tough enough for this career. This job will shock you at times with what you see, hear and do. Rising above everything else to give the best care possible to each person matters most. Your own problems and other residents problems must be checked at the room door of every person you visit. 6. Most of our “bad” days couldn’t hold a candle to some peoples “day-to-day”. Most of us have our health and can take care of ourselves on a daily basis. We can go where we want to go, we can do what we want to do. Others rely on help each and every day to be changed, cleaned and fed basically the same meals day after day. They may be wheeled to a room to sit and/or watch TV most of the day or to a different room to play bingo, then returned to their room later in the day to prepare for bed. 7. Listening is one of the most important things we can learn to do in life. Everyone has a story and wants to be heard, even when the message might not always be clear. Sometimes residents have a better idea about how to do something but if we aren’t patient enough to hear them out, we discredit their rights as a person and miss out on an opportunity to learn. 8. The circle of life is real. I’ve had more interaction with the sick, disabled, and elderly in the last two weeks than I have had in my entire life. We begin our lives being largely dependent on our caregivers and often rely on caregivers once again for help when entering these stations of life. These stations also provide time for reflection on our legacies and contributions we may leave behind. 9. Laughing is important. Nursing homes and hospitals are a stressful environment where many great and many terrible things can happen. Finding humor in some of the things going on around you helps provide relief from the darker side of things. It also helps find common ground with residents and distraction from some of their hurt. 10. Healthcare is an all or nothing career requiring daily commitment. There are likely some things on this list that scare some people far away from this line of work. There’s also probably something that those same people are drawn to mentioned above. Healthcare requires the ability to take the good with the bad, wear many hats, sometimes override emotions and truly love what you are doing each and every day. There’s no other way to provide optimum care for individuals in difficult situations.
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Alexander McNaChronicles of my journey into the nursing profession. Archives
September 2018
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