What I do.

Remind me again...why do I do what I do??

Let's see...last night, I took care of....

• 55yo m; non-responsive, craniotomy, trached, hypotensive 70/30 (I spent all night correcting)

• 78yo f; gi bleed, hemoglobin 6; transfused 3 units of blood and started pressors for pressure.

• 68yo m; noncompliant diabetic, all toes amputated yesterday, gangrene bilateral lower extremities, first dressing change, my responsibility (that was fun)

• 82yo f; paraplegic from spinal cord tumor; constipated, enemas til clear (more fun)

• 85yo m; severe dementia, rectal bleed, end stage renal failure, pulled ng tube out twice, had to replace, run of vtach 14 beats, started drip, uses strong curse words.
  
  
  

Yes, I work an 8 hour shift that soon turns into ten. And charting???? What is that...that seems to start around 11pm.

Okay, YES i am Called to be a nurse. And YES, some days are better than others. Overall, it still remains to be the true definition of 'work'...

And I continue because deep, deep, deep down I would miss it, and deep down, a part of me enjoys helping people (I think)...sometimes I just need to remind myself of that. And someday, God forbid, I am hospitalized, the sweet nurse who takes care of me will look into my eyes like she/he is looking into the eyes of someone they genuinely care about.