The Career of Caring

The Career of Caring

nurse
/nərs/
verb
gerund or present participle: nursing


Give medical and other attention to (a sick person).

Similar:care for,take care of,look after,attend to
Care for the sick and infirm, especially as a profession.

Try to cure or alleviate (an injury, injured part, or illness) by treating it carefully and protectively

Medicate,tend,cure,heal,dress,bandage,soothe

Take special care of, especially to promote development or well-being.

This feels like a part two to (Caring Vs Convenience) .As I established in that article , the fundamentals of our profession are obviously rooted in caring.

And unlike many other careers our customers ,most of the time, come to us defeated , with no other alternative, hurting , scared , with a lot of questions .They’re usually looking for assurance , patience , answers , hope .

Some with new life threatening diagnoses or old ones rearing their ugly heads , some unconscious . And on Each and every shift we SHOW UP and our duty as obvious as it may seem is to meet this need.

That duty is wrapped in our communication style , in the medication administration , in the providing of direct care .

Over the years I’ve noticed people who pursue this career like it’s just a job, mechanically performing the duties , their hearts not into it, especially in recent years (post pandemic ), and I feel like these nurses are a detriment to the profession.

Does this Callousness lead to extended hospital stays , errors, use of excessive measures, pressure ulcers, the purewick generation(the title for my next post ).

When encountered by a confused elderly patient yelling because delirium has set it and they truly don’t know where they are or an angry patient who’s only angry due to the new diagnosis amongst all the other events unfolding in their life, how do we react ? do we pause , take our time and really listen , care……

Or do we see this as an inconvenience to our shift , quickly dismiss them and find alternative measures to shut them up , even as far as branding them with dementia or Bipolar.

Please let me know in the comments what you think .

I want to start another page on this blog dedicated to stories from nurses all over the country or world , maybe titled , Nursing Horror stories and/or What is your Nursing Superpower, please email your stories here. prnrants@gmail.com