A tribute to all neuro nurses and 5 reasons to be thankful today.

Working as a nurse is hard work. I don't think there is anything else in my life that tests my patience or my ability to be thankful/joyful. Don't get me wrong - I love being a nurse! I've dreamed about being a nurse since I was 7 years old, so some might say that I am living my dream. But, as with any other job, there are always things/people/circumstances that try us, test us and teach us how to work unceasingly, to love unconditionally and to serve wholeheartedly.

This might be biased - but I think working on a "neuro floor" requires a lot more patience than any other field in nursing. (Don't throw the tomatoes - I know I'm probably being biased!) We take care of some really sick people, and whenever the brain is involved - things can get a little cray-cray if you know what I mean.

We deal with things like expressive aphasia  - and spend 12 hours not understanding what in the world our patients are trying to say even though they are jumbling thousands of incomprehensible words at a time. A lot of our patients have dementia or some sort of underlying neurological disorder which is only exacerbated by every little thang (i.e. infection, a small heart attack, etc.) If you are a night shift nurse on a neuro floor - you know that "sundowners" and "hospital psychosis" is FO' REAL.  You run around 80% of your shift yelling "MR SMITH, STAY IN BED!!!!" because the bed alarms are going off constantly because patients forget they are at the hospital and are looking for their glasses, or watch or purse, etc. Sometimes you are medicating patients with narcotics/sedatives/mood stabilizers every 15 minutes, or 30 minutes or 2 hours for the entire shift because they have such a high tolerance.  Sometimes you have THREE of these patients and by the end of the day you feel like you did nothing but give pain medication. Sometimes you get pooped on, spit on, slapped, kicked, peed on - you name it.. and you are usually not all that surprised. Lastly, its a good day when none of your patients fall, stop breathing from oversedation or pull out all their drains/IV's/sutures.

It's no joke, people.

However, amidst the busyness and the frustration of working in a challenging floor like ours - it really takes a little bit of extra effort to step back and realize how many blessings are tucked away in all the chaos. I'm thankful for my commute home from work that forces me to reflect on each and every work day and give thanks to all the little and big things that often go unnoticed during a crazy, overwhelming, emotionally-draining, physically-taxing shift.

During my drive back home today, I was trying to think of reasons to thank God for my job today. I thought of at least 50 but here's 5. (some of them are simple, but it's always important to give praise for even the simple things!)

give thanks:

1) I'm thankful to work at a place where I am constantly learning new things. Every day I learn something new from the patients, doctors, physical/occupational/speech therapists, pharmacists, case managers, etc. It's the best kind of place to work.
2) I'm thankful for co-workers who forgive/tolerate me when I sing the "cups song" all day long. Also, for not judging me for using every possible type of "cup" to practice the song at work - i.e. patient coffee cups, medication cups, sani-wipe containers, etc.
3) I'm thankful for patients who say "I love you" back. and for the occasional "thank you!"
5) I'm thankful that I have officially been de-sensitized to all most body fluids (except saliva/mucus). For some reason, I don't mind the stinky things but anything that comes out of the mouth/nose - yuck!
4) I'm thankful and super honored to be working with one of the best stroke programs in the nation! There is no greater feeling than coming to a place where you feel confident about the care your patients are receiving. I love our stroke program!

The above picture is a really awesome picture that one of my co-workers posted. :) I think it really symbolizes the heart behind our work. We really are a family that works to take care of our patients together.  I am truly blessed!

Give thanks!
:)