My Best Friend and Husband could probably recite this rant. As I go off about it whenever an opening presents itself. I NEVER wanted to be a nurse. But I was good at it and I knew it would be a wise career choice monetarily. And one other thing. I never enjoyed school and the 11 month crash course seemed short enough to hold my interest.
Sure, Helping people, great. Very rewarding. But being a mother I am already responsible for one life. And trust me one is enough. If something happened to Bailey my life would become a prison of guilt. So sure, lets add 30+ more lives into my TWO hands.
What you rarely hear a nurse say is how scary it is. Nurses can not make mistakes. And must catch the mistakes of their peers and even the all knowing Doctors we trust. Wow, that's a lot of pressure. One error we can be fired, licenses revoked, sued, or sent to jail. Well that's a risk nurses take to do what they love- to make a difference, to help, to heal.
It might seem glamorous or heroic to some but to me it's scary. I'm scared everyday I clock in. How could I live with myself if I hurt someone? As humans, we make mistakes. As nurses, we can't. Am I super-human? Are my peers?
I'm hoping this blog will open the lid on my life, the metaphorical pressure cooker. And I hope my future nurtures the creative, fun Whitney I remember.
Go ahead. I'm being dramatic. Say it. "Whatever Whitney".
I for one am glad you're scared. If you care for me I hope your scared. You talk about being sued and such, but I know it because you care about human life. You wouldn't do this if you didn't!
ReplyDeletei'm scared too! it's not just you!
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