I've been thinking a lot lately. I've had some experiences that really upset me. Some things have hurt my feelings. I've been astonished at how others are treated. I really think it's time to shake up the nursing profession. I'm not convinced that those of us in nursing are quite the angels that the public makes us out to be. There is definitely some room for improvement. Here are some things rattling around in my head that I plan to start unpacking in the weeks to come:
The Nursing Hierarchy
I've had it with hearing about how "we" are "above" "them". We all have our roles to play. There are not a bazillion different kinds of nurses so we can pit one against another. Respect is where we need to start.
A Lack of Humility
I was sitting in a consultation and I heard about how another nurse told this family that the patient had pressure ulcers and how another nurse disagreed and thought it was just a rash. In this same day I heard a NA-C discuss how he was sure about a Bladder Infection and how a family member just did not understand Dementia. First: nurses don't diagnose. Second: The family usually knows more than us. Third: when we draw these snap conclusions, we totally shut our minds off to a myriad of other possibilities...including the possibility that we may be wrong.
A Lack of Kindness
We are not only unkind to other professionals, but to each other, other coworkers, families and often patients. This is so ridiculous. My boss asked me to clarify a mistake I made with another nurse (yes, nurses...good nurses even...make mistakes). That nurse not only did no clarifying, but spent 5 minutes telling me how I'd made her job so difficult (making me cry non-stop as I had agreed to cover a shift at the last minute and ended up working 12 hours straight). She didn't say "hello". She didn't say "goodbye." She just blamed. Who wants to work like that?
Begging to be Right
We spend way too much time trying to be right. Not solving problems. Not listening to what others have to say. Just determined to be right. I get migraines whenever I go into meetings. Meetings with the state, meetings with my job, meetings with family. I despise them. All people do is try to be right. We spend 20 minutes talking about how one solution or another won't work. There's little focus on the solution.
What I have written today and what I will write in the next few weeks will rumple a lot of feathers. I'm about to criticize a profession that adores it's angel image. But some things need to change. They need to change for sake of the patients, families and for, quite frankly, for ourselves. Nurses are burning out of this profession so much faster that we can keep up with. There is a Nursing Shortage with no solution coming anytime soon. If we don't figure out how to be solution-oriented-kind-humble-team-players. Nursing will die and lose it's angel image we've worked so hard to obtain.
