TMM Featured Career: Nurse!
Hi lovelies – it’s been awhile, a month to be exact, since the last Monday Meeting post! But they’re back and better than ever, starting off with a brand new featured career.
Today, please welcome Kathleen who blogs over at Kapachino. In this interview Kathleen details her work as a nurse. It’s not as “Grey’s Anatomy” as one might think 
1. What exactly is your job?
I’m a registered nurse who specializes in oncology; in other words I care for patients who have cancer. I work in a large inpatient hospital that only sees adults. The patients on my floor are admitted for many different reasons, but usually for chemotherapy or some kind of complication.
2. Describe a typical shift in your job?
Although there’s no real “typical” shift considering so many things change day to day, there is a sort of routine that I try to follow. I get to work around 6:45 a.m., get my assignment (usually four patients), and take report from the night nurses. The first thing I do after that is get on the computer to check my patients’ lab results and vital signs to see if there is anything I need to address right away or call the doctor about. Next I go visit each one of my patients to do a physical assessment and to see if there is anything I can do for them.
Afterward, if there’s time, I like to get my findings documented in our computer system. At 9:00 a.m. most morning medications are due so I’ll spend some time on that. Doctors have usually been on the floor seeing patients by this time, so I will see what orders they have written. The rest of the shift is mainly spent carrying out orders (blood draws, tests, collecting samples, chemotherapy, etc.), helping the patients with anything they might need, and catching up on documentation. Evening medications are usually due around 5:00 p.m. Before the end of my shift I give a report to the next nurse coming on.
3. How is being a nurse in real life way different then the way that nurses careers are portrayed on TV shows, like Greys Anatomy?
Well, I have yet to hear of any romantic drama to happen on my floor, which is pretty disappointing! For one thing, the doctors aren’t nearly as good-looking as they are on TV. 
There can definitely be other kinds of drama, such as crazy situations with the patients and tension between coworkers, but for the most part coming to work is fairly routine.
4. Your job is physically and emotionally demanding – how do you deal with that?
Honestly, it can be extremely hard sometimes. If I’m dealing with something personally I have to do my best to put it aside while I’m at work because my patients need me. This can lead to some serious burnout later on if I’m not careful. Usually I can get through a tough day by prayer, teamwork with my coworkers, and snacks. Food always helps! At home I keep going by cutting myself some slack around the house. I have a few days off a week, and I try to dedicate at least one of those to resting and relaxing. Time off is essential, so I set my schedule so that I never work more than two days in a row. I also use all of my vacation time!
5. Does seeing so much pain, sadness and tragedy on a regular basis at work change your outlook on life at all?
It’s easy to get depressed, but I choose to take a different attitude. This may sound cliche, but my job has given me perspective. Whenever I’m in pain now, I think, “This might be kind of how my patients feel.” It’s made me incredibly grateful for my life, my health, and the health of my friends & family. Every day I’m aware of the fact that I could one day experience what my patients and their families are, so it helps me appreciate today.
6. What is one thing about your job that most people assume that really isn’t true?
I wasn’t quite sure what other people assume about nurses, so I asked my husband what he thought about them before he met me, and how his opinion has changed. This is what he said: “The one thing I remember is being amazed at how challenging nursing school is and how being a nurse is not just caregiving but also being highly trained with medical knowledge. I just really changed my perception of what a nurse is, from someone who changes bandages and gives shots to an extremely highly trained medical professional.” I think that about sums it up!
7. What would you tell someone who is considering becoming a nurse?
I would suggest volunteering (there are tons of great programs) or picking up a part-time job in a medical setting so you can see firsthand what goes on. Nursing isn’t for everyone, but it is an amazing vocation for those who feel called. Keep in mind that there so many different settings you can work in as a nurse, so don’t feel limited to a hospital or to one particular field.
Any other nurses out there? Anyone who thought about becoming a nurse but didn’t?
PS: I’m looking for someone to do the featured career in JUNE. If you’re interested, please contact me!
Thanks for this post – I’ve always thought the nurses have it the hardest – the doctors breeze in and out, but the nurses are the ones helping you get through pain in the middle of the night. Definitely not for me (too squeamish about needles), but I admire those who do!
YAY I’ve missed TMM!! And <3 Kathleen. Loved reading about this and hearing how it really is.
“It’s made me incredibly grateful for my life, my health, and the health of my friends & family. Every day I’m aware of the fact that I could one day experience what my patients and their families are, so it helps me appreciate today.”
Such a wonderful attitude and a wise head on those shoulders
Wow, what an interesting post! I actually don’t have any close friends who are nurses, which makes it even more interesting to hear about from an insider perspective. I recently had one of my student’s mom’s tell me that she is the psychiatrist for the pediatric oncology division at a local hospital- my first thought was WHY WOULD YOU EVER WANT TO DO THAT?! But, after hearing Kathleen’s perspective on her somewhat similar position, it does make me reconsider that. I’m guessing this mom wakes up every morning extremely thankful for her own healthy children.
I think something that would be hard for me about nursing is the changing schedule. I enjoy working Monday-Friday, pretty much the same predictable hours. But then again, I can almost never get myself a doctor’s appointment since they like to work the same hours as me, and I grocery shop with everyone else in the world. With such an emotionally challenging job, I like the idea that nurses can schedule themselves to work no more than 2 days in a row. I also love that you can take a really long shift one day but then get more time off. I wish I could do that because I feel like so many of my days are ridiculously long anyways, I’d love a day off to compensate haha.
Thanks Amber! The featured Career is such a good idea!
I give nurses a lot of credit … I couldn’t do their job!
My aunt and a few friends are nurses, they are highly trained medical professionals. I cannot imagine the emotions that go with your career. Thank you for being the sort of person who can take care of others in their time of need. It takes a very special person to do that.
Great post! I work as a marketing and events assistant in the career services office at McMaster University – I will certainly circulate your blog post amongst my colleagues and clients.
It was a pleasure meeting Kathleen ; she has a wonderful perspective on dealing with some of the harder aspects of human health. I’m happy that nurses’ medical knowledge was addressed; too many people think that they just carry out orders and monitor IVs.
All in all, nurses are incredibly special individuals and should be treated as such. They deserve a lot of credit.
Great post! I’m always amazed by what nurses take on and all they can do! I’d never be able to handle it!
My mom is a nurse too! they are amazing amazing people! it takes a special man or woman to do that job!
My mom was a nurse and my sister will graduate from her nursing program in August. They both were made for that kind of job, but it was something I never could do. It takes a special person!!
Thanks for this post – it was interesting to read about. That would be such difficult work, mentally and physically. I wonder how different nursing is in the US’s health care system vs Canada’s.
Several of my girlfriends from church are recent graduates nursing programs but they’ve had a tough time finding employment with Alberta’s current health care hiring freeze. Yarg…hopefully they lift it soon before all of our province’s graduates move away! *sniff*
I would love a nurse’s schedule bc they make enough not to work 5 days a week, but I know I simply could not. I would get depressed and probably pass out at the sight of blood. I highly commend those who are able to do the job!
I really love this series! What a great way to profile different careers! I was thinking about being a nurse but I ended up keeping my job in communications. For now
Very interesting! I seriously commend all the people who feel a calling to be nurses. I have a few friends following that path and I seriously could not do it. I’m absolutely ZERO interested in it, and caring for sick and injured patients is just not my cup of tea at all. This sometimes makes me feel like a bad person (that I can’t stand the sick and dying) but as soon as it’s someone I care about, or family, it’s 100% different. Anyway, I guess I’m very grateful that there are such wonderful people in the world because I know we’ll ALL need nurses one day and I’m certainly not one of them!
Since Kapachino is my sister, she has told me some of the stories that just break your heart from her profession. Sometimes, you can get a taste of it when she blogs about them. But every day when I go to work making websites, I always think, that when it gets bad, I never have to go home to my girlfriend and say I watched two people pass away today. True perspective.
That’s my favorite niece in action. Love her to death and you would to.
[...] was happy to be interviewed by Amber at Girl with the Red Hair for her Monday Meeting Featured Career. I know I had no idea what being a nurse was really like [...]