A pleasant nature, an air of confidence, and a good memory are three qualities a Los Angeles Times reader used to describe good nurses in a recently published letter to the editor.
The reader says she has spent a lot of time in hospitals during the past two years with sick relatives and has come to appreciate the effect a good nurse can have on a hospital stay. She says good nurses take the lead with the patient and develop a rapport with the patient and family.
However, the reader has also had her share of bad nurses. Some nurses, she says, don’t seem to care about patients and seem overworked. The reader tries to woo these nurses into providing better care for her family by lavishing them with compliments, sometimes successfully, other times unsuccessfully.
The reader points out that good nurses aren’t made in nursing school. She says they have attributes that can’t be taught such as being smart, careful, precise, observant, and compassionate. She says the education of a good nurse is not just the beginning of their career; it’s the beginning of their passion.
Why do some nurses stay in the profession if they seem to have lost their passion for it?
December 1st, 2008 at 9:34 am
The problem is not just in Nursing, but in society in general. There was a time when an attitude of professionalism and pride in a job well done permeated all aspects of our culture,from the cashier in the grocery store, to the sanitation worker,to the nurse, to the physician, and so on. Now it seems that many workers have an “I’m doing YOU a favor by being here,” attitude. Ther are some exceptions to this, and they are like a breath of fresh air in a stagnating world. Nursing’s problem is compounded by the staggering amount of documentation recquired by regulators as well as a “CYA” mentality thrust upon us by a litigious society where everyone is a “victim.” In public, Health Care administrators tout exceptional care, while, in the offices, behind closed doors, cost cutting and the bottom line take center stage. You can’t blame them, with hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities closing their doors on a daily basis due to lack of finances. The Nursing shortage has also created a monster. The fear of losing nurses has caused many providers to lower the bar in their expectations of how a Professional Nurse should function. My experience is that when you hold people to a higher standard (myself included) they eventually will rise to the challange. There may be some pain along the way as some who can not adjust fall by the wayside. But, in the end, all are better off for the effort. I try to be positive and hopeful about the future of healthcare in general and nursing in particular, but it can be very disheartening.
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:41 pm
In response to the article, “What makes a good or bad nurse”, and as a nurse who has worked in the profession for 10 years, I believe that it not about deciding if you have a good nurse or bad nurse. It is simply a question of if you have a skillfull, compassionate nurse who can make swift and accurate decisions regarding your care, and most importantly can he/she be atune with the patients sometimes slow decline in mental and phsyical status. Its not enough to have compassion. Now there are four types of nurses, The Soap Nurse,( she thinks nursing is just looking pretty, smiling and talking nicely,will physically do nothing strenous to help you unless it will affect her license)#2.Mo’Money Nurse” This nurse only wants the pay, and he/she will do the only bare minimum to keep you stable so that you don’t crash on his/her shift. She hangs out at the front desk alot. She takes alot of breaks (smoking)and takes his/her slow time completing the simplest tasks. He/She will always say things to you to keep you waiting and he/she may never get to you becasue she/he will always be doing something like passing medications or taking breaks. She will even tell you she will call your doctor but she isn’t it jusy to keep you off the light. #3 Robo Nurse, Focuses only on routine things such as passing medications and documentation, she/he will not deviate from policy. #4Super Nurse, hangs out at your bedside from time to time to check on you and makes her rounds possibly more than every two hours, she will check vitals herself if necessary and not depend the CNA’s, If you see her at the desk she is probably waiting a call from the your doctor whom she has probably paged several times,she is checking and reporting abnormal labs and taking and verifiying doctors orders. The super nurse will advocate for your medical needs even if it is not exactly what you or the family wants. But she uses all of her talents and skills to help you, and you recover with minimal to no complications. If complications arise, she will catch it before it gets out of hand. Oh an this is the nurse the takes a late lunch break alot of the times, she moves like lightening down those hallways to respond your needs and she consistently monitors any attachments you have. Some nurses are labeled as good nurses just because they can talk really good at the bedside an say the things families want them say. Compassion and conversation without good swift nursing judgement will not detect critically abnormal labs or even care to always notify the doctor of patient decline unless the patient is so bad off that they have crashed or must be sent to ICU. It will simply help that nurse get through her day smoothly, only to leave a crashing patient for the oncoming nurse who many be labeled as a bad nurse because she/he has not stood at your bedside talking an smiling most of the time. This is spoken from past experience. Its not a good feeling to arrive on shift and a patient has been in shock bleeding with a change in Level of conciousness all night and the offgoing nurse falied to respond and decided to leave things up to the oncoming nurse. An boy this is probably why you may have seen that one nurse looking pretty stressed out an the one before her nonstressed. I wouldnt say that that offgoing nurse was a bad nurse but becasue she certainly did her job of monitoring and she probably did some patient teaching but she missed out on the part where she was suppose to call the doctor and get oders to help the dying patient. I’m sure you would not have labeled her as a bad nurse nor the family of the patient because she smiled and talked so good to you. Its wonderful to know that you have a nurse that cares for your needs the way that you do, but lets face it the skilled nurse who has no compassion “Robo Nurse”will simply not improvise and make common sense decisions. Who wants a nurse at their bedside incapable of making common sense decisions? Sometimes nursing calls for us to think beyond what the books simply tell us to do. And what are skills, compassion and common sense with out the ability to make good decisions using the knowledge you have. Lack of good nursing decisions can lead to chronic medical conditions and this overall leads to non-rehabilitation and isn’t this what all patients want. “Rehab”! Overall the next time you have contact with a nurse you could ask yourself which nurse do I have, If your medical needs require a #4 Supernurse and you have a #1 Soap nurse, Just ask for a #4 or Pray for Divine Intervention.
P.S. By the way I’m a #4! Which one are you?