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Should you become a nurse?

I have been a nurse for a little over a year now, and I was always looking for information beforehand. It is hard to be a nurse. If you think you will spend all, most, or even a part of your time sitting and talking to patients, you're wrong. Sure, there may be those times, but, for the most part, watching the clock is what you will do. Here are a few absolute essentials if you want to become a nurse:

1. Ability to handle stress

I work med-surg on a busy telemetry floor. I am night shift and have about six to eight patients. People don't sleep at night, especially in a hospital. Most people are feeling their pain at night, feeling their anxiety, and wondering about tomorrow. There is no television, no family to distract them from being uncomfortable and in a strange place. They will call you often to help them.

Unfortunately, there is always something else going on. It may be the person who just converted into an arrhythmia or someone whose breathing just took a turn for the worse. There is also the normal stuff: med pass, charting, admissions, and so on. If only one person was asking this of you, there would be no problem. Anyone could handle it easily. On the floor, there are eight people asking quite a bit of you and it is your responsibility to make sure they are safe and not in danger through your shift.

2. Time management

This is a catch phrase that is often thrown around, but I did not know what it meant until I landed in it. So, you have eight patients, what are their blood pressures? Not just for one, but for all of them. What was their potassium today? Which one had the CABG and which one just had a valve replacement? Which one has the history of afib? The one who just went into afib or someone else? Note taking is important. You have to manage information like a database. If you don't know where to find it, the patient's safety may be in danger and doctors will come down on you. Deservedly so. A nurse must know. They are responsible. That's their job.

Time management also extends to other aspects. What do you do when two people need pain medicine and you already have meds laying out on the counter? How do you do that? Usually, I will take them in order unless there is an emergency. It's hard to figure an emergency, though. Breathing and a stopped heart are obvious, but pain, confusion, and a small run of v-tach are less so. They may be okay depending on history and circumstances or they may not. It's your choice. You have to manage

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