Just what is on our shoulders.......

Thinking about a post on impactEDnurse.com made me wonder - do people really understand what it is a nurse does, and what the implications of our job are? Do they see us as bum-wipers and vomit-catchers, or do they see us a the professionals we would like them to see? Do today's nurses display the professionalism expected of us? Do we still appear to be the "doctor's handmaiden" or are we showing the world that we are a profession of our own?

Some days I wonder.

I handed over recently that a particular patient would need to be turned later in the night. The other nurse replied "oh, he can turn himself." This shocked me a bit. The reason the patient was there was because he was unwell (der!) and to be judged as able to turn himself, without this nurse ever laying eyes on him, is completely unprofessional. If he were to develop a pressure area, where would this nurse stand if she had not turned him - and documented that he'd been turned? Not to mention the pain that may be caused by staying in one position for too long.

We had an awful arrest just last night, which will be a Coroner's death, and probably the first that actually shook me up a bit. While it's very sad, foremost in our minds now, is thinking back over things and wondering if we did everything right. A mistake could mean a visit to the Tribunal, de-registration.....or worse. A split second decision can mean far more than a simple correction in the notes! An accountant makes a mistake, he can just recalculate and it's fixed. A nurse makes a mistake - someone may die, and that nurse's life will be forever impacted by that mistake - not to mention the family of the deceased.

It's appropriate that the last 2 days I've had a student EN with me and was talking about documentation (and therefore covering your own butt!) with her. Sometimes it takes something like last night to bring it home to students and new grads just what their registration means, and how easily it can be lost.

 How nice it would be if nurses could "just nurse" - without all the complications! But then, I think we'd still have the same attitudes, the same bullying, and the same doubtful practices we see now - probably worse. Accountability is here to stay, for good reason, but boy does it complicate things! And really what does "just nurse" actually mean?

How to educate the public on a modern nurse's role? I have no idea. But every one of us must remember that to be accepted as more than "handmaidens," we need to be people of integrity, showing professionalism in all that we do, showing the world that we do possess knowledge of our own, can think independently, and be responsible for ourselves.

But don't forget the basic, fundamental nursing care along the way. It's the little things that make the difference between a nurse and a GREAT nurse - the one the patients remember long after they go home.