Mrs. T

Today I had a patient ask me: "If you would have known you would be doing this everyday, do you think you still would have become a nurse?"

You see, today, I was in charge. And this patient had called, the unit secretary answered her call, and attempted to contact the assistant and the covering nurse (the patient's nurse was on lunch) and no one was available. The pt stated she had to go to the bathroom, "really badly." 

To be honest...I sighed. Even now, as I typed this paragraph I sighed. Taking people to the bathroom truly is not my favorite thing to do. I would not have become a nurse if that was all I were to do. I have experienced a multitude of different scenarios while taking people to the bathroom during my five years of being a nurse. Many of which are positive experiences during which "please," "thank you," and stories are shared. But of course there are always several negative experiences that seem to overshadow all of the good ones. 

The fact of the matter is that some people handle the sick role better than others. Some people weren't given, either by nature or nurture, the appropriate coping mechanisms to handle an illness. We nurses call this "poor coping skills." Some truly cannot help it at this time in their life due to some altered mental status, and in those situations I find the most difficulty. I have to constantly breathe into the task at hand, and repeat to myself "they are sick, they are scared, they don't know who you are." Because I have to believe if they did know, they would apologize for their actions, and a part of them would be embarrassed. Until that time, I try not to let their harsh words and actions get to me. 

Let me tell you, though, I will only lay still and take abuse for so long!

Anyway, back to my sigh. I walked into that patient's room, and there she sat, with her feet dangling off the bed and a huge pool of excrement on her sheets. She said, she was sorry for anyone who had to come in to help her. She had a slight Irish accent, and flashed a smile at me after I made a joke about probably not needing any more bowel meds. (She had been given quite a lot, because she was really constipated after having 2 separate surgeries about a week apart.) I usually can predict how a situation will end up if people get a kick out of my humor. 

I called for someone to come in and help me and together we got the bed and the patient all cleaned up in no time. While she was sitting on the commode chair, as I was changing her sheets, she asked me the above question: would I have still become a nurse if I knew I would be cleaning up poo everyday?

And I answered her honestly: I don't clean it up everyday. Several times a week maybe (back when I was full time), but most of the time people make it to the toilet. :) She said she had a lot of respect for what nurses did, and stated there would be no doctors without nurses. And I agreed. So I told her, that when it is someone like her, who is kind, respectful, and has a good sense of humor it is easy for me to do my job. I don't mind it. It doesn't even really gross me out. People like her are the reason I return to work. And when all of the negative encounters begin outweighing the good ones, I will find some other nursing job to latch onto. Because that is one perk of nursing, there are a multitude of other jobs I could do. But for now, I'm okay where I'm at.