My *favorite* thing to hear

(please note the *asterisks of sarcasm*)

"You're so SMART! Why didn't you go to medical school?"

This comment doesn't just come from little old people who don't know any better. Residents who are younger than I am have said this crap to me.

Just THINKING about this comment makes my head want to explode. Please, people. Don't EVER say that to a nurse.

I'm a nurse because I want to be a NURSE. If I wanted to be a doctor, I would have been a doctor. By god, if I wanted to be a freaking FIRE TRUCK I WOULD BE A GODDAMN FIRETRUCK!

Ok, sorry, rant over.

No Angels Here

One stereotype of nursing (and it's perpetuated by nurses as well as by those not in the medical or nursing fields) that bothers me is that of nurses as "angels of mercy."

We're expected to smile while up to our elbows in bloody shit and vomit, be pleasant to rude and sometimes violent people, put up with crap from doctors, managers, patients, their families, nurse techs, and janitors yet keep our cool, never cry, never sweat, never lose our tempers with each other, always be prepared and be right there when we are needed.

We're expected to be a "cool hand on a fevered brow" or a sweet smile in a time of difficulty, or a shoulder to cry on--every day, every minute, every hour.

Look: I love being a nurse. I love being able to make you feel better. And when I have time (ie, when I have less than 12 patients all screaming my name and falling on the floor--and not in a rock star Beatles type of way), I can get you a pillow, and tuck you in, and be that cool hand.

But sometimes I'm having a bad day: bad news from family, got up late, working my third 12-hour shift in a row, have to pee, hungry, got spat on six times already. I'm a human being. I have a family, and a life outside of this hospital, although sometimes it doesn't feel like it.

So when this happens, you can count on me to be as kind to you as I can, and be professional, and to do my job.

But pardon me if my wings are not unfurled as majestically as you'd like, and if my halo is a little tarnished. I got some melena on it during the last GI bleed and I haven't quite gotten it to the laundry yet.

Sorry everyone!!

I just noticed that my blog comments were set on "moderate comments on posts older than 7 days"; I guess I did that when I was getting a lot of spam! I totally forgot, and didn't know I even had comments to moderate.

Sorry, guys...I've published all the old comments. (I was wondering why no one was commenting...) Better late than never, I guess.

Just so you folks know: I don't delete real comments ever; I think everyone's viewpoint is at least interesting, if not valid--even if it's not complimentary to me or disagrees with something I've written. I do delete spam and requests for advertising (another thing I won't have on this site).

Again, sorry about that! Comment away!