My Day: The Nursing Profession

¶ … Nurse There is nothing that compares to serving in any of the helping professions. In the past, I have come across some articles in the press highlighting some of the most desirable professions and jobs, and in some cases, some of the worst. In a Forbes article titled, the Best Jobs for 2014, what is particularly striking is that "all the positions, aside from tenured professor, are math- or health care-related" (Adams, 2014).

What this, therefore, means is that I work in a profession regarded one of the best professions in the entire world -- I am proudly a nurse. In essence, my responsibilities as a nurse have got to do with not only the optimization, but also the promotion as well as protection of the health of the masses, or those put under our care.

This, alongside my colleagues, I do by alleviating suffering and preventing illness by playing a pivotal role in both the diagnosis as well as treatment of patients and offering the relevant care to affected families and communities. This, in general, captures my core or overall mandate as a nurse. I wouldn't say that each of my days while serving as a nurse is exactly like the last. There are those days that I report to work very happy and leave later in the evening even happier.

There are, however, days that end on a sad note. This is not to say that there is no typical day in my nurse life. On a typical day, I wake up at 8 A.M. And hop into the shower to ready myself for the 'day' ahead. I then drive to work so that I am at ######## Hospital, my work station, by 9:45 AM. Mostly, my day starts with briefings -- where I get from the exiting nurse (the night-shift nurse, in this case) reports regarding all the current patients.

I then proceed with a room-to-room visit, in an effort to examine and identify key vitals on the said patients. During the said room-to-room visits, I also administer the relevant medications. Between the first round and the second round, which is usually scheduled at 11:30 A.M., I usually attend to any administrative issues assigned to me. It is also during the said breaks that I also reach out to family members and keep them informed of the condition of their loved ones.

As much as one derives immense satisfaction from helping others, it is usually during these rounds that one gets to encounter the sweetest, and sometimes, the most difficult of patients. While most patients are very understanding, thankful and, make reasonable demands/requests, there are patients whose demands come across as being substantially unrealistic. I always ensure that regardless of the demands made, my response is at the very least supportive, gentle, and calm.

Most of my time is also taken up by consultations with doctors on a wide range of issues; ranging from the observed progress of specific patients, to being sent on trips to the pharmacy, to being.