As nurses, we hear a lot about the changes we are faced with within the healthcare industry.
As with any change, there is a transitional phase. What happens when the changes happen so fast that we don’t take the time to process what it means for us?
On any given day, the call lights are going off, the alarms are ringing, and patients’ families are voicing their demands. As nurses, we are just getting through the day. What toll does that have on our overall mental capacity?
I remember becoming quite reflective on my drives home from those bedside marathons. I would think, what is happening? It didn’t used to be like this. How did I go from driving home fist pumping and singing to sitting in absolute silence the entire drive home, running over the day’s events over in my head. Thinking, did I do everything? Did I get that order? Did I give that med?
Don’t even begin to question the social aspect of nursing. Returning calls to family members. Setting up a room for the daughter to stay because the patient has dementia and it’s a full moon. “Please, let me grab you a blanket and pillow.” Only I didn’t, I forgot. Now, that pangs me inside because I left it for the next shift to contend with. This is not how I rolled as a nurse. However, the demands were increasing and staffing was spreading thinner.
I heard the term “it is what it is.” I began to think, is it? Is it really? If this were true, what was to come?
Confession, I tend to think 5 to 10 years out. It serves great in the long term, but when the short term is your reality, you must get to work quickly! I began with looking around at what was going on around me. These changes were coming so fast, I had no time to digest or react.
At the same time, we were coming off the great recession. Healthcare was the one industry that was coined, the “real job machine.” It was recession proof. You could not escape the TV ads or media features showcasing the nursing field as a glorious place to be. I remember this vividly because I thought, where is that utopian nursing land they speak of? I was seeing it on TV, but certainly not living it.
We all know now that propaganda comes in all forms and hits all industries. I remember thinking, what was the purpose of those ads?
If you understand business and the numbers of healthcare, then you would understand they were fluffing our industry up. Painting a picture of what nursing could be. And, for what? To keep us in the field, despite the reality of what we were living. Painting a picture that what we were experiencing was our own altered perception. That it wasn’t really as bad as what we thought.
Or, was it to increase school enrollment for nursing educational purposes? They knew the data. The baby boomer generation aging out combined with health measures to extend life longer could only raise the demand for this profession. How could they meet this demand? By the promise of promotion. You will always have a job in healthcare as a nurse – but at what cost? That is where I began to see things clearer.
As nurses, we have to be cognizant and aware of our own reality. Had I just accepted and believed what was being sold to me through other people’s lens, I would have never entertained the idea of exploring what other options were out there for me.
Make sure the glasses you are wearing are your own.
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