​Registered Nurses have a tough time keeping their emotions in check while caring for their patients. As the caregiver, your patients feel comfortable telling you everything and, of course, with access to their histories, you probably know more about their healthcare history than they do. At the end of your shift you are physically and emotionally drained and exhausted. Most patients don't realize how much nurses worry and care about them. There are quite a few things most nurses keep to themselves.
Exhaustion is part of the job and it won't do any good to say anything about it. Typical shifts are 8-12 hours and most of that time is spent on your feet. Caring for several patients and the long shifts can take a toll. Even with adequate rest the job is stressful, emotionally and physically.
The nurse may act calm and be really freaking out on the inside. They can't show this to their patients. The registered nurse must stay calm and be on top of everything. In most cases when the nurse seems to have no emotions it's because they are carefully keeping them in check so as to provide the best care they can to their patients.
But you can bet a lot of nurses cry about their patients when they are not on duty, and some have problems sleeping because they are worried about someone who may be suffering. Many times travel nurses have a hard time leaving their patients at the end of their assignment. Nurses spend their time helping their patients to be more comfortable and still have family life to juggle when they are not at work as well.
When your patient is in hospital garb and getting ready to go into surgery of course they look funny. But the nurse will surely not tell them this. Everyone looks funny when going into surgery. It's accepted.
Nurses pretend they can't read ultrasounds, x-rays and other tests. The experienced RN can sometimes see issues in these tests but must allow the physician to check the results and talk to the patient and family first. The RN will avoid the question and tell the patient the physician will be in to talk to them soon.
Nurses chose their profession. They did not choose to go to medical school and be physicians. There is a difference in these two professions and if nurses wanted to go to medical school, they would. Some nurses resent being told that they are too smart to be nurses. Nursing is a challenging profession and requires high energy, intelligence, and quick thinking.
The RN is responsible for dispensing medications to their patients and this is not an easy task. The nurse must keep track of all the meds their patients are taking and make sure adding a new or different one to the mix won't make matters worse or exacerbate existing problems. In some instances the nurse will give the patient the lowest dosage possible to start out and monitor and report on the reactions, or lack thereof, before increasing dosages.
Travel nursing presents many challenges and rewards. Is it time to start your adventure as a Traveling Healthcare Professional?
Mary Crawford, HealthCare Employment Network