Nursing Concerns

I've had this one thing on my chest for a long time. It's a bit of a touchy issue but right now seems like a good time to say it. It's hard to say it nicely so I'm just going to say it how I see it:

I hate when people who don't have a drive to nurse become nurses. It honestly concerns me because I know so many people like that, one of them saying the other day '[Censored] this, I'm only in it for the money.' As a person who constantly receiving medical care, this is a bit horrifying.

Many other people don't care about my thought. "We need more nurses." "It's a respectful job." "It's a steady job." And lots of other things will and have been said in protest to my thought. But most of these people don't realise what an affect it can have on the main goal: Patient care.

I've been in and out of hospitals for years- both specifically for children and general hospitals for adults. I've met a whole variety of characters and I've run into many who were less than entusiastic about their profession: I'm not really judging based on the ones I saw only once. I'm talking about those who I got to know.

There is a difference between the nurse who taught me to inject my Enbrel, taking as much time as I needed and being very encouraging and praised a good try and job well done, and the nurse who rolled her eyes and scolded me for 'making a mess' when I (projectile) vomited uncontrollably for a day. There is a difference between the nurse who inserted my IV wrong and left it like that and the nurse who was scared to death when I reacted strangely to a medicine, ended up helping me walk because I could've collapsed with pain at any second and stayed by my bedside even though they didn't   have to. There is a difference between a nurse who tried their best to help a miserable time go faster and a nurse who just wants the job done. There is a difference between a nurse who calls back the same day when you need help and one who forgets to give a patient a way to get help. There is absolutely no biased to age or gender here: Believe it or not, I described four male nurses, four female nurses, four old nurses and four younger nurses.

I'm one of those people who takes the saying 'A job is what you do with your day, a career is what you do with your life' very seriously. I feel like careers like nursing should have a passion and drive to do- no different from a designer having a passion for art or an engineer a passion to build. Unfortunately, it seems to be a job for some. It's a draining career with rewards of its own kind, I know how easy it is to burn out because I have seen many burn out and never recover. I'm not saying it's easy. I'm saying it concerns me when people who are already burned out take their first steps into the profession.

There will always be one rotten apple that spoils the bunch. But please, don't let that happen. Nurses are great people: Most went into the field really wanting to help people get better. For all the nurses who couldn't care less, I've have dozens who cared so much!