The end of the day for a nurse

Ariale Allen, RN, and Pam Kennedy, RN, submitted the following thoughts on what it means to be a nurse at the end of the day:

You know you’re a nurse when you give up part of your life to receive that title, when you spend hours upon hours going without a meal or even a simple bathroom break, all in the name of taking care of a patient. Then after 12 hours you go home, and can’t help but think of the patients and the turnaround you made in their health and how grateful their family was. Then you think of how blessed we are as nurses to call this our “work.”
—Ariale Allen, RN

You have completed your shift, passed all medications, hung all your IVs, checked all your lab work, assessed all your patients with complete vital signs, discharged and admitted a few patients, inserted a Foley or two. Finished all wound care, spoke with all ancillary staff members regarding your patients. Worked with PT, OT, speech, pharmacy, surgery, X-ray regarding your patients. Reported any abnormalities to your doctors, taken orders from doctors. Explained many procedures, medications and patients’ conditions to patients and their family, held a few hands, dried a few tears…maybe some of your own. Reported off to the next shift, charted everything clearly—and when you got home, thought about every move you made and felt exhausted, but knew in your heart that you helped someone in some way today who needed you.
—Pam Kennedy, RN