The Dark Side

This is supposed to be a blog about nursing. I try my best to tell stories and give insight and inspire because I really think that nursing is the best. That being said, today I am going to be very blatant about how things go sometimes. I am not going to defend myself because I'm not in the mood. Nursing is not always rainbows and butterflies.

Sometimes I walk out of a patient's room, lean against the wall, and let out a big ol' sigh because I just can't deal with them anymore. 

As I walk away, I frequently roll my eyes at patients and family members. I mutter and grumble as I answer the call light for the 10th time that hour. 

My sense of humor can be very dark and insensitive. I laugh at inappropriate things. 

I am no angel when it comes to cleaning up bodily fluids. I make disgusted faces and do not have a good attitude at all. 

If a call light goes off, I don't jump up to answer it. I am lazy and hope someone else will. 

Nurses are supposed to always believe what the patient says about their pain, but I don't.

I participate in gossip on the unit.  

There are days when I give the patients nothing of myself. I simply do the necessary work and then leave. 

Sometimes I really don't want to go to work.

Charting is annoying and repetitive.

Sometimes I feel very negatively about coworkers, doctors, and other members of the healthcare team. 

I complain about things that don't matter and make issues out of things that aren't a big deal. 

People really really annoy me sometimes. I get tired and cranky and hungry and my feet hurt and my back hurts and I touch gross things and I smell gross things and there are days when I don't think I really help anyone and sometimes I hide in the bathroom so I don't have to deal with people for an extra 3 minutes. 

The list could go on, but I'll stop there. I could start a new list about all the amazing things, but that would ruin my point for the day. Every job has pros and cons.

 Do I love it? Yes. Do I want to do anything else? No. But sometimes nursing really stinks (literally). Go hug a nurse today. But make sure they disinfect themselves first.