Nursing: A Multi-faceted Profession and Calling

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In honour of Nurses Week, it is only fitting to learn more about what makes nurses one of a kind and worthy of being feted.

When tasked to write about my nursing experience, this writer was not exactly enthusiastic. How could I write about something I have been on a hiatus from for some time? Yet, though I have filled different corporate roles through the years, and am a writer now, nursing is still in me, and I know well that nurses have numerous roles to play in the span of our careers, not all of which were taught in nursing school.

“If a nurse declines to do these kinds of things for her patient, ‘because it is not her business,’ I should say that nursing was not her calling,” Florence Nightingale wrote in her book Notes on Nursing: What …show more content…

There are a lot of other healthcare professionals in the patient care team that you have to collaborate with to ensure that the patient receives continuous care. But sometimes, it can’t be helped when the hospital is short of staff or they're unavailable when they’re needed. This is not an ideal situation but nurses still get things done and they do it well.

With proper skills, certifications and where applicable, nurses assume other roles like a doctor and pharmacist advising the patient about their home care and take home medications. In some cases, nurses draw blood and collect excrement samples when phlebotomists and medical technologists are not around. We also assist patients in doing range of motion exercises when physical therapists are not around. And when the respiratory therapist is out and the patient needs nebulisation badly, the nurse usually takes over.

Psychologist, Family Counsellor, Friend
We’ve all been in a situation when we had to be a psychologist keeping our patient sane amidst the intense stress of hospitalisation and daily life. More often than not, this also comes with the need to counsel the …show more content…

Of course, the pain and the loss was still there, but being around at the wee hours pacified her even a little. Some days, we have to act like nothing’s wrong while a patient from the other room is coding or has just passed. There are times that due to high stress, deep seated family feuds erupt while in the midst of taking care of the critically ill patient and you have to keep everyone calm. Getting caught in these situations requires great malleability.

Babysitter, Hairdresser, Cosmetologist
We were taught in nursing school that we must provide holistic care to our patients regardless if they are conscious or otherwise. Working with chronically and critically ill patients, especially in the different intensive care units, will give you a chance to perform such and more. Aside from the usual nursing tasks, we must know how to make our patient feel like a million bucks.

I learned how to play Tetris, how to Milkmaid braid, and how to apply lip liner, among many other things which I wouldn’t do for myself. We have a stash of mini pocket games, hair accessories, fancy shampoo or soap, luxurious lotions, and anything we can keep in our lockers ready to give our patients as an extra dose of pampering. While these seem mundane, it makes a huge difference in providing our patients total healing for the

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