Ok, so this is me at work. I work in a surgical ward, which doesnt mean we do surgery, but take care of people having surgery before and after operations.
"So when are you going to become a doctor then?" .... is a question that crops up here and now, irritating me slightly. It not that I mind being asked, its just the firmness of a persons mindset that annoys me.
Being a nurse is no longer about the womanly, caring, supporting and comforting role we commonly think it is. And I dont say that regretfully. Patients in hospitals these days are acutely ill, and its the nurses who are trained to keep them alive, not pat thier hands and tell them everything will be ok! The empahasis in this day and age is on specialising and the nursing role has specialised, and other professions and roles have taken the place of the all encompassing and comforting female form.
For example... im taking care of the patient - which means im monitoring thier breathing, heart rate, general conciousness, giving essential drugs, etc etc. If that patient needs to talk to someone, im there, but so is the hospital councillor or chaplin, or supportive family - while my attention HAS to turn to my other patient who is looking a bit blue in the face.
Its not ideal I admit, the government only pays for the nurses it needs to stop poeple dieing.
Would I like to be able to do my job better - YES - virtually every nurse you meet would say the same thing - but we dont have time to do it brilliantly (and this includes watching out for that patient who needs a little "caring" care, not essential to survival). We get the most done with the time and manpower we have.
Is it beyond a man to say a few words of encouragement to a person who is going through multiple operations - or to say a word or two of sympathy to relatives of a dead patient? You decide? The rest of the nursing role is technical, specialised and not something for people who like the smell of flowers......
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment