I am a nurse, your bedside aid.
I am the person who comes at your call.
I try my best to give you the care you need and a wonderful stay.
What you see from one side is a helping hand and healing buddy.
But what you don't see is the full picture.
For the Nurse it is...
It is talking you through your fear, sadness, anxiety, and confusion.
It is struggling with your own anxiety, and depression.
It is bending over backwards for your every need.
It is going home knowing you didn't get enough done because you were so under staffed that you can only do the minimum.
It is the mandating of rules without the staff to do so.
It is twelve hours on your feet with patients and family treating you like crap.
It is coming back the next day with a smile on your face to do it again.
It is understaffed, over worked, and underpaid.
It is constant harassment.
It is emotional, mental, physical, and sometimes sexual abuse.
It is crying over patients you have grown attached to when they pass.
It is watching family members see their loved ones die.
It is stress to perform.
It is the minor things that can cost a life or a limb.
It is double rooms from the overflow of patients.
It is the nurses depending on only each other when help is in short supply.
It is the work that didn't get done the previous shift that you get yelled at for.
It is busting your ass just for people to still think you aren't doing enough.
It is running 16-20 patient teams when 2/3rds of them are total care or max assist.
It is the hour and half that you have to spend fighting to feed your patient so they get the nutrition they need.
It is the fear of not performing well enough.
It is letting down your favorite nurse because you couldn't finish everything.
It is the non stop phone calls.
It is doing something on your own that should be done by at least three people.
It is finding some one dead at the start of your shift.
It is continuing to care for others when you're at your lowest.
It is watching your patient slowly let go because you know they won't make it.
It is cleaning up when they can't do it themselves.
It is mediating between patients, patients family, and the doctor.
It is being the shoulder to cry on, the ear to listen, and the arm to lean on.
It is providing you friendship in your darkest and weakest moments.
It is showing you love when your family isn't there.
It is sitting with you in your last moments so they are not spent alone.
I am your Nurse, your bedside aid.
