This is a collection of the most wonderful and rewarding memories from my nursing career of over four decades. Back in the day, our training resembled boot camp. Inspecting nails, uniforms, hair, shoes, and laces was constant. For the women, makeup was to a minimum, with no perfume or jewelry, except for a watch with a secondhand (of course), post earrings (if you must), and a wedding band (if you had one).
We wore knee-length uniforms that were immaculately cleaned and ironed. Getting shift reports, writing fast, and knowing when to ask a question was a must.
We also understood that you were never meeting a patient on their best day. Being a hospital patient is never easy. There were emotional and financial worries (leaving families, missing work, paying the bills) in addition to the medical, surgical, or psychiatric reasons for getting admitted in the first place. The nurse had to try to get to know the patient, appreciate their difficulties and pain, and offer comfort measures like fluids, repositioning, ambulation, and reading their mail to them if necessary.
Some shifts were better than others. Sometimes there was a joyful birth, a good pathology report, or a drastic improvement in condition. There were also occasional sudden heart attacks, hemorrhages, strokes, seizures, and death. All of these moments touch the heart, especially watching patients’ loved ones facing the tragedy, too. A lot of psychology and coping skills were not only useful but necessary.
I learned that it is the little things that comfort a vulnerable patient. Kindness, encouragement, a touch of the hand, a smile, even just your presence. People often say that nursing is the most trusted profession, but ironically, we make the worst patients. Maybe that is because we get it. Not having enough time to also address patients’ emotional needs undercuts the whole prescription for healing.
Slowly the school nursing cap and white uniforms phased out, yielding to comfort and practicality. In my heart, I realized that attitude and behavior made a bigger difference than the outfit. I celebrated comfortable feet and fewer clothes to iron. Call me crazy, but I still ironed my scrubs and cleaned my shoes because I could not shake the habit.
Insurance reimbursement, scientific discoveries, diagnostic coding, computers, the World Wide Web, and electronic medical records drastically changed the work landscape for all healthcare workers. Hospitals replaced flip charts and binders with digital tools. Patients stayed fewer days in the hospital and were pretty sick while they were admitted. As a nurse, it was suddenly like running the treadmill at double and triple speed. Plus, who grew up knowing computer skills? We had to revamp our work habits.
Nurses used to have small patient loads (in numbers) in the old ward days, but now every patient is much sicker. Twelve-hour shifts helped with work-life balance and going back to school for a degree, but the downside was that a nurse was so very exhausted by the time their shift ended. As the years and decades flew by, I realized that age was an unwelcome, annoying factor. It seemed that the younger nurses had the energy for a longer day and a faster pace workday. By the time I had worked 25 years, the average age of the nurse was shockingly in the mid-40s.
New staff could not fathom the idea of old paper charts. They typed at warp speed and could master any new software in 15 minutes. It was imperative to make friends with the IT guys since some of us needed remediation and cheat notes!
The long hours spent in the ER, OB, walk-in clinics, hospitals, medical offices, and rehab facilities for both children and adults taught me invaluable lessons about life, death, love, friendship, health, and humility. There were many times I was tempted to walk away, but there would always be a moment when tears of joy would persuade me differently. The years I spent teaching part-time were such a rewarding experience. Nursing and healthcare underwent rapid changes, but I needed to share the timeless valuable pearls of wisdom to the next wave of nurses.
Although I felt that I gave all I had, the patients, colleagues, mentors, and students I met along the way enriched my life far beyond what I gave. I have lifelong friends from every place I have worked. Now as a retired grandma, I have the best memories and stories that seem like they happened last week. I love sharing these with old colleagues whom I can never imagine being without. Unmistakably nursing is a demanding and exciting career choice. It takes a toll on the heart, the mind, muscles and bones, and your personal life. On the other hand, it was an amazing ride that I will always cherish.
Kathleen Barrett, DNP, MS, FNP-BC, is a retired family nurse practitioner. She is a member of Sigma’s Beta Omicron Chapter.