Two of Four

Holy shit balls man. Tonight was one of the craziest nights I've had as charge nurse. Man oh man. Thank goodness for great coworkers. On this National Nurse's Day, let's take a moment to appreciate all the hard work that nurses do. So much seems to go unnoticed and people don't always realize just how intense and stressful nursing is. We make life or death decisions at the drop of a hat, are constantly monitoring patients for god knows what could go wrong with this surgical, that admit, or the ICU transfer. Is someone going to code today? I don't know. Am I ready for it in case it happens? You bet your ass I am! I comfort the family members of a dying patient and make sure they are comfortable in their final moments. I laugh with the patient who came in with a broken ankle because he tripped over his dog. I get a funny feeling in my stomach while assessing a patient and know something's not quite right, and I figure it out before the patient is in serious danger. I answer that lady's call light for the hundredth time. Why? Because I'm a nurse. And even after a terrible shift where our patients have eaten us alive and spit us back out, we come back the next day ready to take on the world. There are some people close to me that don't understand just how stressful my job is. Just because I may not bring it up at the dinner table, doesn't mean that everything is peachy. Nursing is a difficult profession. I absolutely love what I do, but there are some days that I ask myself "Is this all really worth it?". Often in these times of doubt, I am quickly reminded by an appreciative patient, a simple "thank you for being my nurse", or by taking care of a patient with a sense of humor like mine, that yes indeed it IS all worth it.