Inspired by the giving presents to teachers thread- giving presents to nurses

[Saphire]

The best gift I have received from patients and families is their thanks. When a patient calls me an "angel" I know I have served them well. When they thank me for my patience I know I have done my job. When they look at me and ask me when I will be back, I feel gratifed and humbled. We serve people in need who are most vulnerable, and they need us to be kind and compassionate.
I appreciate very much the tokens of thanks we have received over the years on our rehab floor...candy, cookies, muffins, home-made goods, even lunch for our unit. We are not allowed to accept any gifts of money. But we have stacks of thank-you notes from families and patients that mean a great deal to us and remind us of why we do the work that we do. It really is a calling, and next to my work as a mother, is the most important contribution of my life.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Reading through this thread I feel like I'm at work, LOL.

Patients and families often bring things for us that just make our day a little nicer - like a bag of Dunkin Donuts for each shift, or chocolates, bagels and cream cheese, cookies, etc. We once had a family cook us an entire Thanksgiving dinner - it was so nice for those of us who had to work the holiday.

One of the things that means the most to me, though, is when a patient and/or their family asks if I'm coming back the next night, and expresses disappointment if I'm not; or says "great" if I am. Or if a patient has their family members bring a picture of their dog for me to see, or a recipe we've talked about, or something else that means we've meant something to eachother. Things like that, for me, are what make all the difficulties of the job worth it.

Over the years I've worked with so many different nurses there would be no way to classify them into any one category. Some, of course, have truly amazed me while others um, didn't. Together we've had a lot of fun and been in the trenches together. I realized when I was out of work for close to a year with my illness how much meaning being a nurse has in my life. I missed it terribly, especially my patients. Couldn't wait to take care of them once again, and had a new appreciation for what it feels like to be on the other side of the bed after I came back.

As for my chemo nurses, they loved me. I walked in every day with a pastry tray or other gooey dessert - I have a family member in the business. No shortage of "buddies" coming in my room to talk shop, Disney, whatever. I felt comfortable there, as much as one could under the circumstances. Same with the radiation crew - they had me bring my puppy in every day along with my kids, it was I almost was sorry to leave, such good people. I wrote them some nice notes of thanks and brought them in along with the usual goodies. I feel as though all of them gave me way more than I gave them.

I also delivered at my own hospital. Spent 5 nights in L&D trying to get the twins out. Had a lot of colleague visitors, but I welcomed their company, nothing was really going on. Some of my wicked nurse friends snuck me crackers which I ate under the covers when I was NPO. On the post partum unit one night I was really surprised, I had no visitors. In the morning I figured out why - my nurse had put a NO VISITORS sign on my door, guess she thought I'd had enough. I would definitely go there again, was glad to be there when I had a critical hemorrhage after delivery (an accreta).

As I told a new nurse last night when she became upset about something that happened - in the line of work we do, we have to develop a thick skin if we're going to survive on the job. When people get mad about things and attempt to take it out on me, I decide if I "own it" or not. If I do, then fine, I'll work it out. But if I don't, then I let it go. Do I get upset? Of course I do. But I try to let as much of it go as I possibly can. When the day comes that it gets to be too much, then that's the day that it's time for me to go.

Sappy, I know, but want to offer a to all my fellow nurses. Thank you all for what you do!!

 

[Disney Doll]

That's a very rude statement. I've worked with a lot of older nurses who are too lazy to get up off their butts to do their treatments or give a pain med. I don't make it my mission to make their job a living hell, though.

Maybe a little kindness to your co-workers will go farther than a nasty attitude.

I'm sorry if you feel my statement is rude. I am telling you my observations. And BTW, I am 44, have been a nurse since age 21, so if your responding rude comment was meant to be a dig at me, it didn't really work, ebcause I don't consider myself old. And quite frnakly, if you are working with a nurse who is age 50 or older, and she has been a nurse for 20+ years, she deserves to not have to work as hard as a younger nurse. She's paid her dues, in ways younger nurses will never understand.

My observations are exactly that...my observations. Perhaps it is just young people in my area...perhaps where others live and work, all the young nurses are angels of mercy with boundless patience and enthusiasm for the job. I don't see that here. What I see is a group of people who feel "entitled" to not have to peform up to a certain level, who don't feel the need to do what they call the "scut work". Sorry, I never knew direct, hands on patient care was "scut work"...we never used to refer to it that way.

I have expectations about how a nurse is supposed to function, and if I am orienting a new nurse, I expect him/her to be a professional and meet those expectations. If "Mommy's Little Prince or Princess" doesn't like it, then perhaps he/she has chosen the wrong profession.

If that is considered eating your young, then I guess you're right...I do do it. But that's because the young nurses of today are going to be caring for me in 20 or 30 years and, quite frankly, I 'd like them to have a clue as to how to do it properly. I've oriented a lot of people in my day, and haven't had any complaints yet.

We have enough prima donnas in the world already, We don't need to create more.

 

[Disney Doll]

I'm fifty years old, one of the "older" nurses myself, and I have not seen that age has ANY relationship at all to work ethic. I've worked with plenty of nurses my age and older who would rather let a patient lay in their own excrement than do "aides work."

And after working in research, case management, and home care I can tell you that I've met many older, experienced nurses who hardly do 25 hours of work for the 40-hour paycheck they collect every week.

It is a huge mistake to make assumptions about people based on their age. It's a shame to justify lecturing, blaming, and accusing younger nurses based on these false and prejudicial assumptions.

I'm not making assumptions based on people's age. I am making statements based on my observations and experiences. Perhaps your experiences have been different, and if so, you are very fortunate.

 

[sugarpie]

Disney Doll you referred to yourself as an older nurse in an earlier post. If nurses workloads are prorated by their years of experience then I don't ever want to end up in a hospital. That's ridiculous.

I already stated that I don't mean to attack older nurses. I've been a nurse for 10 years. I don't consider myself a new nurse anymore.

I actually oriented a new hire today that asked me if I hated her because I told her to brush a patients dentures. She thought it was disgusting & beneath her to touch dentures. I get that it's frustrating. But I think as nurses we do our society a disservice by treating new nurses with hostility. We need to nurture new nurses. I think we all know we learned little in our nursing training & the majority of our knowledge comes from experience. I try to treat my co-workers with respect & I hope they'll do the same.

 

[DawnCt1]

And I would just like to say, as someone who is no longer working in nursing, God Bless you all who are out there working. Its a tough job that requires constant patience, vigilance and dedication.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I actually oriented a new hire today that asked me if I hated her because I told her to brush a patients dentures. She thought it was disgusting & beneath her to touch dentures.

Very funny, I have done many "disgusting" things in my 21 years as an RN and occupational therapist, and it's practically impossible to disgust me (in one of my last jobs our medical director repeatedly called me a "saint" for my nursing care of a patient with the foulest smelling infection we had ever experienced), but I HATE brushing dentures. I do it anyway, though! It just tickled me to see this post.

As another poster mentioned, I feel called to nursing--that's why I went into the profession. As we continue on in our profession, we get over feeling disgust for MOST of the unpleasant tasks we do. But I still hate to brush dentures.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I HATE brushing dentures.

All I can say is whoever invented gloves should get a medal!

 

[DawnCt1]

Very funny, I have done many "disgusting" things in my 21 years as an RN and occupational therapist, and it's practically impossible to disgust me (in one of my last jobs our medical director repeatedly called me a "saint" for my nursing care of a patient with the foulest smelling infection we had ever experienced), but I HATE brushing dentures. I do it anyway, though! It just tickled me to see this post.

As another poster mentioned, I feel called to nursing--that's why I went into the profession. As we continue on in our profession, we get over feeling disgust for MOST of the unpleasant tasks we do. But I still hate to brush dentures.

I think all of us have one thing that we find totally disgusting. For me, it was collecting sputum specimens. I would have to stand behind the patient so he wouldn't see me gag.

 

[DawnCt1]

All I can say is whoever invented gloves should get a medal!

When I was working on a surgical unit in the 70's the hospital inservice instructor would have a FIT if she saw anyone giving colostomy care with gloves on! She said it made the patient feel dirty. I didn't listen to her of course. I didn't like doing colostomy care but I did a great job because I wanted it to last so I wouldn't have to do it again too soon.

 

[Disney Doll]

Disney Doll you referred to yourself as an older nurse in an earlier post. If nurses workloads are prorated by their years of experience then I don't ever want to end up in a hospital. That's ridiculous.

I already stated that I don't mean to attack older nurses. I've been a nurse for 10 years. I don't consider myself a new nurse anymore.

I actually oriented a new hire today that asked me if I hated her because I told her to brush a patients dentures. She thought it was disgusting & beneath her to touch dentures. I get that it's frustrating. But I think as nurses we do our society a disservice by treating new nurses with hostility. We need to nurture new nurses. I think we all know we learned little in our nursing training & the majority of our knowledge comes from experience. I try to treat my co-workers with respect & I hope they'll do the same.

No, nurses workloads in my hospital are not prorated by their years of experience. Nurses with many years of experience carry the same workload as nurses with 5 minutes of experience...if anything, a more experienced nurse will get a heavier workload because she has probably had more experience with handling a heavier workload, because chances arem, she's done it once or twice in the past, what with the nursing shortage and short-staffing and all. When I refer to myself as an older nurse, I don't necessarily mean in age...I mean in experience.

Perhaps my experineces are singular to my hospital and that is why no one seems to be able to understand what i am saying. I don't treat new nurses with hostility. As I have said, I have oriented many new nurses in 23 years, and most of them still like me...at least the ones that I still work with, and there are quite a few. But I also don't have time to coddle a new nurse, and convince her that it is, in fact, her job to touch dentures, even if she thinks they're "icky". Quite frankly, I don't blame new nurses for thinking the job is disgusting...it is sometimes. But if they want glamour, I feel it's best that they learn early on that nursing will not be the profession for them.

Since oyu have opriented new nurses, you know how time-consuming and difficult it can be. I find it frustrating to take 6-8 weeks to orient someone, only to find that 3 months later they leave to go into "corporate" nursing because hospital nursing is "too much work"...and yes, that is the explanation we get when a new nurse leaves...."this is too much work and I think you people are stupid to work this hard".

My opinion is that younger people are not being raised with a strong work ethic. I think they get too many things handed to them, have too high expectations of what they "deserve" from a job, have too much of an opinion of how they "deserve" to get treated and so forth.

Apparently, that is the way it is going to be, and I am going to be the *itch for suggesting that they work hard and actually do the job for which they were hired.

Gotta keep buying those Lotto tickets till I win I guiess, so I don't have to work anymore, and hope I die without ever needing to be cared for by the caliber of nurse I see coming out of nursing school today. I find that the scariest thought of all...I'll be 85 years old, unable to clean my own dentures, and no one will clean them because that is an "icky" job.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

When I was working on a surgical unit in the 70's the hospital inservice instructor would have a FIT if she saw anyone giving colostomy care with gloves on! She said it made the patient feel dirty. I didn't listen to her of course. I didn't like doing colostomy care but I did a great job because I wanted it to last so I wouldn't have to do it again too soon.

Yes, I remember my nursing skills book from the early 80s stated that you should NOT wear gloves to do colostomy care, because you wouldn't wear them to provide toileting care, and you would not want to make the parent feel embarrassed or stigmatized.

My nursing supervisor in the late 80s refused to allow us to put boxes of gloves in patient rooms due to the expense. She wanted us to just carry around a pair in our pocket and refused to acknowledge that sometimes you need more than one pair of gloves during whatever procedure you are doing! It took a memo from the hospital's chief of staff requiring "gloves within easy reach of every bed" for us to be allowed to put gloves in each room.

We are all so lucky to not have hepatitis or HIV from the years we didn't wear gloves!!

 

[Cool-Beans]

I really don't see too much of nurses eating their young. In fact, I never even heard that before. My boss (who is a bit flighty) tells me that everyone always comes in beeyatching about each other, though. I don't want to hear it, of course, that's why I don't get involved - don't wanna be! - but she blames in on PMS and menopause.

I do remember, way back in nursing school, an older nurse upbraiding me. I was brought in to see the little corpse of a baby that had been recently delivered, but had begun decomposing in the uterus (I forget the word for it...it has been a while.) She pressed into it (with her hand covered by a blanket) and encouraged me to try it as well. Of course, the poor little thing was all squishy...and I'd never seen anything that was into decomp at that point.

It broke my heart. I was back out at the desk and a fellow student came up and I started to tell her about it and began to cry. Had to go in the back. The instructor came in and I explained what had happened and she told me that I was extremely "unprofessional" and that if I couldn't get it together, she'd have to recommend that I was unfit for the profession. She was rude and blunt and mean.

I hadn't gone into nursing to work L&D/neonatal, in fact I'd always said that the two things I didn't want to do were psych and babies...didn't think I could stand all the crying. But during that rotation, I fell in love with L&D and had pretty much decided I wanted to do it if I could get in. Because of that nurse, I really believed that I wasn't cut out for it. I was a lot younger then...

That nurse was just plain wrong. I understand they are no longer telling nurses that you just cannot cry...high flippin time. I probably would have been a decent L&D nurse and that woman ruined it.

I hope that everyone who works with young nurses remembers the impact that their words might have, and tries to steer them in the right direction without making them feel impotent in their abilities.

Another nurse helped me a lot. She was in her 50s and liked me because we both liked country music. She always called me in to perform tasks on her patients that she knew I hadn't really mastered. And she always told me I was going to be great. I try to be for other people what she was for me.

I still brush dentures - that never even bothered me a little. Happy to do it. Fine with vomit, fine with anything coughed up or oozing out from wherever. Poop, though, I still have to turn and gag sometimes. Can't help it - it is a physical thing for me. We all have our thing.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I still brush dentures - that never even bothered me a little. Happy to do it. Fine with vomit, fine with anything coughed up or oozing out from wherever. Poop, though, I still have to turn and gag sometimes. Can't help it - it is a physical thing for me. We all have our thing.

Careful here, you may be in danger of tagging!

Poop doesn't bother me a bit--good thing, since I've worked so much in peds and geriatrics.