Saturday, April 18, 2015

A Little Perspective

   Before I get to my main point, I want to share a few anecdotes from the past few weeks that have made me happy.

-I have two patients in a room who tell me that they'll put on the call light and pretend to be in pain so I can watch the end of the Blackhawks game with them. Then they both fell asleep. :)

-I have a patient ask me when I'll be back because he wants me to meet his wife

-I get a passionate kiss (on the cheek) from a patient because I got her a fan.

I'll post another Moments post here soon, but I wanted to share those :)

   A few weeks ago, I had a wretched shift. From the moment I got my assignment, I knew it would be bad and then it got worse. I was yelled at by doctors when I was truly doing the right thing and screamed at by patients when I was trying my best to help them. The patients I had should not have been assigned together because it was too much. The endless night turned into a hectic morning and I ended up in tears. This was the first time I cried because of stress. The other nurses around me stepped in and helped me finish out my shift. It was awful.

   The reason that I've shared this with you is because since then, the difficult shifts I've had haven't seemed so bad. The halfway decent shifts are positively delightful! Sure, throw me two admissions and a patient going through alcohol withdrawal. I can handle that! A rapid response and an admission at the same time while a confused patient is jumping out of bed? Bring it on! One of those patients who has to pee every half hour? I'd be delighted.

   Anyhoo, the lesson that I learned from this is that sometimes, a difficult situation can make us appreciate what we have even more. Working fast food might motivate you to make it through tough college courses. Failing a class can make you even more proud when you pass the next one. Losing someone you love can help you appreciate the people in your life even more. A bad or harmful relationship with make you more thankful for the healthy one. God has a plan. The hard things aren't easy, but they might help to bring other things in your life into perspective.

No comments:

Post a Comment