Posted on 11/06/2006 7:57:25 PM PST by 60Gunner
When I decided to become a nurse, I made up my mind from the beginning that I wanted to work in the Emergency Room. I have never worked anywhere else as a nurse. Besides being a constant source of challenge and education, being an ER nurse has other benefits. Here are just a few:
1. The look on a belligerent drunk's face when you explain to him or her EXACTLY where that big ol' tube is going.
2. Wearing your pajamas to work.
3. The sense of awe that you get when looking at some of the things you find in an abdomino-pelvic X-ray on a Saturday night.
4. Getting paid to say, "Relax. This'll only hurt for a few seconds."
5. Learning how to compare the appearance of potable fluids with bodily fluids.
6. Learning how to keep a straight face when you hear a patient say "I swear to God- I have NO IDEA how that got there."
7. Learning how to suppress the urge to laugh uncontrollably until after your leave your patient's room.
8. Meeting girls. Or boys. Or something that isn't quite either of those but makes for interesting breakroom conversation.
9. Grossing your annoying in-laws out when you tell them EXACTLY what their London Broil looks like.
10. Learning how to use bedpans for skis in the parking lot on a snowy day.
11. Learning to identify ANYTHING that could possibly be used as an emesis basin in less than one second.
12. Job security through December 2394 with overtime and shift differentials.
13. An endless supply of subject matter to introduce whenever the dinner table conversation becomes boring.
14. Playing with sharp objects.
15. Running with scissors.
16. Using leather straps without having to wear a black latex outfit.
17. Learning how to make a scared kid smile.
18. Learning how to make a smiling punk scared.
19. The look of awe on a pretty woman's face when you tell her, "Yeah, it's just like the TV show."
20. Developing an appreciation for the intricacies of the human body as you help the MD crack a gangbanger's chest to play "Find the bullet."
21. Humming "I've Got You Under My Skin" while scrubbing the real estate out of a drunk car surfer's road rash.
22. Having an alibi for your insanity ("Oh, he's an ER nurse." "Ahhh... That makes sense.").
23. Learning how to think faster than you ever imagined you could when your patient's cardiac rhythm suddenly changes from stable to lethal.
24. Seeing and appreciating the intricate ballet of the code team when an outside observer sees only chaos and blood.
25. Learning how to give an intramuscular injection so smoothly that when you finish, your patient says, "Ooh, you're good!"
26. Learning how to start an IV upside down while bending over.
27. Learning how to sense a change in your patient's condition before the monitors and taking action before she goes into ventricular tachycardia.
27. Getting a license plate frame that says: "ER NURSE- PASS ME NOW, SEE ME LATER."
I know we're not in the "cool" fields, we're not the elite, we're not the big money makers or the big movers or shakers....
but all in all, I feel great satisfaction over what I do, even if some of it is mundane.....
because there is no replacing the gratitude you feel when you help people, or their families, or usher patients thru the death process, or hug families who are torn up, or hold a very lonely and confused man's hand when he doesn't know where the heck he is.....
working with the very great people in the health field is the ultimate....the great doctors, the fellow nurses, the RT's and the social workers......we all have this unwritten language.......we feel the pulse of life every day.....you just can not beat that.....
I ask this because I wonder if there are teens who want to go into health care because they watch Grey's Anatomy or Scrubs and think it's the path to free and unlimited tail.
My sister was an ER nurse in the 70's. One night the parents of a teenager pulled up. Brought him in and they were obviously embarrassed. Their son had a vibrator stuck up his rectum, couldn't get it out and on top of it all, couldn't reach the on/off button to shut it off.
Sounds like what happened to my sister which I just posted - did you work at Suburban General in Pittsburgh? (now Allegheny Suburban).
The work I do is mainly to help the nurses. The nurses are the ones who get the complaints about the bad food, lousy bed. The nurses get the insults from families. The nurses get things thrown at them, get hit, punched, spit on, cursed at. The nurses have to explain that they can't do something until the doctor orders it and then get called over and over again to the patient's room to hear the patient ask over and over again "has the doctor ordered it yet? Can't you call him again?"
I can't stand to watch the sniveling talk shows where some movie star comes on and makes a big deal out of how much work they do and things like that. After spending 5 years, 2 in a nursing home and 2 1/2 in a hospital and seeing the suffering of the patients and the miracles we call nurses, I can't stand to hear alot of the whining elsewhere.
Christian news and commentary at: sacredscoop.com ...
Please ping me. (Am I already pinged?)
Your writing is sublime. You really should get published.
Sorry I missed your ping to me..
I love your nurse stories.
Mooch Pooch, consider yourself pinged. Thank you for your encouraging words.
60
As far as your question is concerned, my answer is simply, "You don't." You have the right to choose or reject a healthy lifestyle, of which I am sure that you already know.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.