nurses are...

after being surrounded by nurses most of my life, but in a more concentrated setting the last three months, i think it's time to share some of my observations

 

• nurses have are obsessive compulsive. we have to have things our way, but no two nurses do things the same way. famous line for nurses, "well, that's not how I do it." yea, i know. 
• nurses are also borderline. how you might ask? well, have you been in a nurse's break room? everyone is all smiles when the manager or charge nurse is in there, but as soon as they leave, the griping begins. lovely.
• so many nurses are single or divorced. what's the deal with that?  
• nurses must be a.d.d. not only are there routine, daily tasks, but a nurse must conquer the random, out of the blue happenings that occur everyday. between falls, admissions and discharges, new orders, patients leaving for hours when they are supposed to be getting a dressing change, and the occasional argument with the physician, life as a nurse really is a box of chocolates.
• people share major life events with nurses. birth, birthdays, terminal diagnoses, death. this is an honor that nurses, including myself, all too often forget.
• nurses can be real, well, um, bitches. i mean, have you seen two nurses from different units get together? it's like the sharks and jets reunion or something.
• nurses function in the conflict styles of accommodator/confronter. we accommodate our patients to the best of our ability, but get in our way or mess with our patients, we will get all hyphie on ya.
• nurses deal with incredible emotional stress. one minute, you see a patient getting better and getting ready to be discharged. on your next shift, you find out that they've been admitted to the i.c.u. with a g.i. bleed and it's only "a matter of time" before they pass. (no wonder so many in my profession are alcoholics)
• a majority of the nurses i've encounter call themselves christians. their actions all too often don't reflect it.

i know these observations aren't true of all nurses, but it's what i've seen in myself and others.  the last one is the scariest to me. i hope that people see Christ in my life, and that i will be able to share Him with my fellow odd-ball professionals.