The RN Coach Blog

My vacation starts tomorrow.  Having shared with my work family yesterday.  Really no one can hurt me!  No unexpected craziness, or confrontations, can spoil my pre-vacation feelings.

The new year is always a reflective time for the world.  How can we make our lives even better?  What can I do to improve my work life?  How would it feel if I was successful in meeting my goals?

So, what is important to you?  Write a list.  Pros and Cons.

What do you like about your current job?

Where do you see yourself in the future?  You can even imagine what that might look like. Months to Years ahead. 

Why did I become a nurse?  Well.my mother wasn’t a nurse.  And she didn’t know how to handle injury or illness. 

There is a level of compassion fatigue that enters our lives.  We give.  But receiving can be the answer to the moment.  Look closely at how kindness comes your way.  These realizations can have an impact on how kindness feels to everyone.  When a random act is felt. 

Remembering the abuses of a call light in my nursing career.  We had to try to make it through our shift.  A patient called so many times both day and night, that we had a tally sheet. 

Being able to understand this new fear.  The unknown for the future. With all the questions and concerns wrapped around this moment. Can make the work day more complicated.  Some nurses believe that they don’t have time for this part. 

Believing that I was doing the best possible thing for my family. I sacrificed sleep so much.  I didn’t know any different.  Gratefully, I was surrounded by likeminded around me.  Meaning we were not thinking about ourselves. But what do you need to know?

Does this sound selfish to you?  How can you create a life that fulfills most parts of your life?  Who else would benefit from this?  When would this become important to you?

The farther along your nursing path you become, the more challenging the memory of the reason why can fade.  Creating a feeling of love, support, and compassion to everyone you meet along your work day can be more effort than you can give.

It stays on our heads all day and every day.  Feels like it really never leaves.  Today, I recognize how many places my cap actually falls.  It isn’t always obvious during the moment, but it can be surprising.

Being a Nurse is one of the hardest jobs in the world.  This is my perspective of course.  But it is my belief.  Our Gift of accountability and nurturing with the strength of many men and kind words to all.  This is an expectation.  We didn’t realize what a role we would have in peoples lives.  There is a level of fulfillment that can’t be matched in many careers.  And we truly save lives!

So how do we avoid some of these moments?  When is the right time to call a physician?  Who should you check with before making a call in the middle of the night?

Have you ever recognized what happens when moments in your workday weren’t taken care of effectively?  If the moment escalates into another level of chaos, then negativity prevails.  Stress is a constant in our work world.  This is life and death every single day that we work.  Few professions are like nursing, being tactful is critical.

As a nurse facing challenging life moments every day, it humbles me.  Everyone has a different approach to coping.  From not wanting to talk about it, to sobbing in my arms.  Stepping into other people’s lives without overstepping, trying to support them if possible.  It is such a sensitive and personal experience. As nurses sometimes it is a lot to carry around in our hearts.

How do you come prepared for your day?  What happens if the flow is disrupted?  When do you think that you need extra support?

What have you noticed about your work world?  How do you feel you fit in?   When did you recognize the like-mindedness of the area you work in?

So, how can you make it easier?   What should you recognize about our jobs?  When should you speak up?

 A miracle comes in all forms.  Yes, I have been a witness to countless miracles.  The simplest to come to mind, is the birth of a baby.  We are one tiny cell, that grows into a human and may live for 100 years.  It isn’t a surprise that things happen and our body changes to adapt.  We are alike in structure, but different otherwise. Either environmental or genetic, we all have a different journey.

How do you deal with creating a more joyful and peaceful environment, when a life is hanging on the edge of death?  What can you do to help the patient and families?  When can you support the other members in your department?

How does this make you feel with the word,” frontline”?   What do you do to take off the mental experience of this pandemic?  When do you feel safe?

Recognizing the shift in behavior of the nurses, before and after food.  It is real.  They are better at handling issues.  And focus has shifted. 

Does this sound selfish to you?  How can you create a life that fulfills most parts of your life?  Who else would benefit from this?  When would this become important to you?

Being relieved that another day is done.  Taking that slow breath and acknowledging everything you accomplished.  Absorbing and releasing all the conversations and interactions that you were a part of.

What do you need to do in those few moments to prepare?    How can you comfort your tired and late coworker?  When should you reach out to others to help?  Or get help?

What can make your day better in a world of turmoil.  We smile under our masks and know that as a team of nurses we are strong. Feeling overwhelmed as each new patient arrives to our unit.  Being a source of reality to everyone.  This is not what we signed up for…the frontline.

Exploring what is your personal style of conversation?  Are you soft or loud spoken?  What is your body language?  Are you approachable? What are you trying to say?  Consider these questions regarding yourself.

Watching different approaches to circumstances when I am working, and outcomes has led me to this moment.  Is being fast the smartest way to approach every dilemma.  Some will say yes, without a doubt.

As time moves forward and being comfortable in your RN role.  You can start feeling that you don’t always need a challenge.  Just want a normal day.  Respectfully, I get it.  Sometimes you can be tired from the day before.  Just feel like you don’t have the energy to deal with another stressful day.

Looking around on a normal day of work, there are definitely volumes issues.  We start quiet and escalate as the number of hospital staff increases.  Counting the number of nurses, doctors, technicians, and therapists, and housekeepers, can be a big count.  Then add families and the patients and pretty soon the noise level is too high.

My biggest conversation is to look around your environment.  Think about the what if scenario.  What would you do?  How could you prepare to make it safer?   What would be in your control?

Eventually, short cuts are made.  Nurses leave their jobs, trying to find a better answer.  And those of us who have made the choice to stay. Struggle with their decisions.