I have survived the first full week of being unemployed. I've done pretty well, but I'm must admit, I think of certain patients and some administrative functions of the programs I managed. I don't think this is unusual at all, I'm sure all nurses carry certain past patients with them.
I became a nurse's aide at age 17 and was assigned to a pediatric unit. I can still see a tiny 6 year old girl that was burned over the majority of her body. I remember in detail the first auto-accident victim as a student in nursing school. My first surgical rotation patient was a 51 year old man with a cholecsytectomy. The nasogastric tube, urinary catheter, oxygen canula, two different intravenous drips and cardiac monitor seemed overwhelming. We learned together over ten days how to cope with a post operative period. When he was discharged he said "you did good kid". The first birth I observed was one of the times I felt the presence of God. During my psychiatric rotation at a state hospital I realized some patients were just quirky, not mentally ill. They had no where else to go. A pediatric rotation in a large city at the children's hospital taught me some people should never be parents. I cared for an 18 month old boy with an immune disorder. He had not experienced life outside the hospital and his parents never came to see him. I was amazed how loving he was. The nurses were his parents.
Past experiences mold who we are. Past patients I carry in my heart helped me gain skill, insight and compassion for the next patient I cared for. I wish they knew what an important part they played in my delivery of care. They "paid it forward" without knowing what they did.
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