I am a Registered Nurse and today, I am more proud than ever to call myself one. After having worked for 2 years as an RN, I realize this title encompasses so much more. We are professionals, we are critical thinkers, we are multi-taskers, we are grief counselors, and after hours, we can play the role of social worker, physiotherapist, dietician, electrician, plumber (any nurse who has unclogged a toilet at 4am knows what I’m talking about), but above all else, we are advocates. We are advocates for patients and their safety. The media has misguided the general public into thinking that we have “abandoned” our patients during this time, when in fact some floors are staffed as adequately as they would any other day of the year. The inaccurate portrayal of the “selfish nurses” saddens me. Ultimately, an overworked, understaffed floor does affect patient safety. It saddens me to find a patient in distress who didn’t want to call for me because they felt I was too busy, or didn’t want to call because I had too many patients and they “didn’t want to be a bother”. It is our ethical obligation to not only fight for our profession, but first and foremost, fight for the rights and safety of our patients. Please support your hard-working, loving, caring, compassionate nurses who continue to fight for you and your loved ones everyday
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 22:16:23 +0000
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