I anticipated a rough night. A super needy patient, an anxious patient and one straight up with no manners who didn’t know if it’s a good idea to take pain meds or not. And 3 others.
After running around for 11 hours, I hear a thank you.
I hear, “you’re very nice and thanks for taking care of me the last few days. You treat everyone as an equal.”
I hear, “this morning I woke up, crying with tears of joy. I called my best friend to tell him I had the best morning at the hospital since I’ve been here. And it’s all thanks to you.”
It doesn’t get better than that. The gratitude.
And the night before, a patient stated, “I’m so glad you’re here.” And gave me a big smile. He got up; I took his BPs to make sure there’s no orthostatic hypotension (a key sign that not enough blood volume circulates through the body); he walked a good distance for the first time since he had been here and couldn’t be happier.
Using my knowledge to help people get better has always been my top priority and it’s so great to hear it and see it. I love nursing! 🙂