We all have a reason for becoming a nurse, everyone has a different reason. I am asking myself what this is at intervals in my work...usually when the day isn't going my way. But self doubt has been a part of my routine since qualifying as a nurse 3 years ago.
I am thinking about this more at the moment as it is the time of year the all newly qualified nurse have waited for; the day they take the title staff nurse and begin work as a fully qualified practitioner. It always reminds me of the day I began my first day of work in late september 2009 on an elective orthopaedic ward in a new hospital and new town. I also think about the new students at university embarking on the first few days of their nursing course, ready to take on the challenge that studying nursing is. I hope the course lives up to everything they hope it to be. I wish everyone the best of luck with their studies!
When I think about new nurses and how new people come into the profession, I think about how the profession has evolved, the values it hold and have our attitudes evolved too? I truly believe that every nurse in the profession has something special and unique that only they can offer, their hallmark. During my time working on a surgical ward at my current hospital, I co-mentored a third year nursing student, who I believe showed endless promise as a great nurse. I feel one of the most valuable things I tried to teach her, was that nursing is like a baking a cake, you need to follow a correct recipe for the best outcome, but best thing about it is, you can decorate it your own way. Making the most of that special gift that only you can give to those in your care and those colleagues around you. Its what I feel makes us as diverse as we are.
I suspect there are a few nurses who have cared for nurses of older generations or perhaps (such as myself) are related to nurse of an older generation. I am all too familiar with the statements "Too posh to wash" or "nurses don't care like they used to" or of course find the fact that nurses must now attend university distasteful and hold that as the justification for the above quotes. I however, would beg to differ. I guarantee that myself and many of my colleagues despite being university educated nurses still hold care and compassion as the highest priority of our work. I cant speak for everyone, but I would much rather be performing the tasks we might describe as "nursey nursey" but nursing today is such that I am not afforded with the opportunity every time...much to my disappointment. Does this make me a bad nurse?
I personally find it difficult to believe that nurses are driven by financial motive, I also find it far more palatable to believe that nurses really do care and would love to return to more traditional nursing. but sadly time has moved us on and we can at best hope to achieve the highest quality we can with resources we have. Of all the nurses I have worked with, I am confident that an individuals own underlying reasons for becoming nurses (and indeed keeping them in the profession) is the desire to care for people. I can tell you hand on heart that it certainly is the reason I became a nurse.
Does the individual personality make a good nurse? Obviously the desire to care for a person and the good level of education is need to undertake the course, but what about a personality? How does this fit with the profession? we pride ourselves on being a diverse profession, but are personal interests taken into account when choosing the right applicant for nursing. I might be thought of as cynical if I said that nurses were chosen on the basis of having the right attitude to be moulded into what the profession would like...someone reflective and calm and kind and certainly an individual with a heart. In my opinion, much the same as profession has always desired. Perhaps I am wrong, perhaps all the profession would like is someone who is self-aware enough to make the right choice in the right scenario, to an extent a robot?
Sadly, there will always be those who do let us down in the profession...I will leave those matters to the NMC, and I'm sure said matters are dealt with appropriately. To a lesser extend, I'm sure every nurse understands, the day that leaves you feeling like an awful human being and nothing seems to have gone the way you would have liked, or just feeling generally deflated no matter how good your intentions are. But I ask, does this make you a good or a bad nurse? Are you only having these feelings because everyone has a bad day, or are we just reflecting on our practice?
I frequently come across the CARE campaign in the Nursing standard journal (and my words are by no means aimed at belittling the work of the good people at nursing standard) but I feel worried why we need to promote a campaign of CARE. Promoting communication, and caring for peoples basic needs such as nutrition, using the toilet if need be and of course feeling warm and cared about with their feelings and wants taken into account...for as long as I can remember, I believe, if you aim to get the basics right, you achieve a good relationship with your patients. I would be surprised if nurses did not relate to this. All I ask nursing standard and the wider profession...aren't these the basics?
The Florence Nightingale School of Nursing in London, some time ago launched the Culture and care programme promoting nurses to reflect and celebrate diversity through study and development of individual interests and talents. the theory is that it encourages students and staff to explore culture and artistic values to improve non scientific skills in the profession there by improving patients experiences, they boast a collaborative module entitled "nursing and the arts"meant to enhance these skills through exploration of arts in relation to nursing. It certainly appears that the profession is expanding its imagination when it comes to the development of good quality nursing. It would seem it encourages a nurses interest in the arts as a way of developing practice. Call me naive, but maybe it is worth applying this idea to the wider profession? Making this compulsory in nurse education?
Before I reach I point of infinite confusion and being a major source of chronic boredom. I would ask anyone interested, that if they do lose faith in nursing to try and talk to their nurse, get to know them and if you have a good relationship with nurses so far, then I hope you empathise with this piece of writing and really do appreciate the kind of nurse I believe them all to be...I have a lot of faith in them. I also believe that despite negative attention. People really do believe that the work that nurses do is truly invaluable and genuinely think that a nurse can be nothing other than a good nurse.
