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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Worst thing?

Dear Nurse Dave,
What's the worse thing you've had to do as a nurse?
Jamichael, West Palm, FL

You're probably expecting me to say enema right? Well giving an enema really isn't that bad and it can actually be quite refreshing to a patient. You're probably also thinking about other things involving poo but usually as a nurse I'm not the one cleaning up. That would naturally lead to pee and catheters which can be gross but really putting a catheter in is saving me a lot of trouble as far as cleaning up pee goes. So where do we go from here? Bed baths? Isn't really my job. Weird wounds and sores? Can be gross but also can be very interesting. Angry patient? They usually don't get angry but sometimes their families do. Mean co-workers? Haven't had an issue but I've met some mean nurses that just don't understand that nursing is caring. 12 hour shifts? Sure it is a long day but it leads to having 4 days off. Dealing with the doctors? Most of them are actually pretty nice. Having to wear navy blue scrubs and having a terrible case of dandruff? Well yeah that probably hurts my professionalism but I don't feel too bad about it. Reading doctor's handwriting? That can be hard but it comes with the territory. Standing on my feet for 12 hours? Sure I'm looking for new shoes but at least the new ones don't have to be all white like my nursing school shoes. So I don't have any real complaints (except for cleaning poo it is gross)

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