Nurses Are Understanding And Tolerant

We have to be. We get told the most incredible stuff. We are expected to do the most intimate and icky stuff for people. We are expected to deal with folks at their most vulnerable, grumpy, juicy and unlovable and still treat everyone the same, with dignity and respect. We are yelled at, hit, treated with condescension, and mistaken for maids or waitresses.

But, we keep doing our jobs. Because we know what some of our patients don't. We know that nursing has evolved over the years to a complex, thinking, analytical career that places us where the real eyes and ears of patient care belong, and where the first catches are made that head off impending doom, and that is the bedside. We know that the knowledge in our heads and the assessments we make from the moment we lay eyes on our patient can and do save lives.

I have wondered if education in advance of planned surgery or hospitalization would help change the attitudes and behavior of those that are disrespectful and rude to nurses, something like a patient education note on 'how to interact with your health care professionals'. I think some people just see nurses as 'helpers' to the doctors, not realizing that we have entirely different scopes of practice and areas of expertise. In fact, doctors often ask the nurses for not only their opinion and help, but for any orders the nurse can think of for the patient to complete their care, orders that the nurse will carry out. Meaning WE often tell the doctors what we will need to assure thorough, safe and complete care. Bet most folks didn't know that.

And I bet most folks coming in for a surgery don't realize that the nurses that care for them after the surgery are considered critical care nurses, some of the best, most skilled and educated in the business. That those nurses are some of only two or three units of nurses in the hospital that can and do administer vasoactive, paralytic and sedating drugs at their discretion. We have a broad standing order base that allows us to give prompt, complex care for unstable patients.

So, I think a 'please' or 'thank you' or smile would be nice once in a while. Remember:

Your nurse is here to save your ass, not kiss it!