mar's Desk

marcoujor: You Never Know

11/29/2017

In over thirty years of study and practice in nursing, I have worked with every personality style on the spectrum, with the instructors, supervisors and colleagues I have met along the way.

As a new nurse I had a supervisor who was adept at ‘pushing my buttons’. In my first year of work I was late once. On every other day I was between 30-45 minutes early, as I loved to start my shift smoothly, not rushed and able to actually listen to the off-going report.

On this particular day, a major street to work was flooded due to a torrential downpour and my detour took expectedly longer. Upon arrival I was happy to be alive. My reward was a write-up for being two minutes late.

To be fair and objective, this supervisor was genius with patient-care strategies. She was amazingly intuitive with the patients. When listening to her in report, I became stronger and more respectful of her ‘no nonsense’ approach with staff, as patients were her only priority.

“Be kind. Be firm. Be consistent. You may never know the positive impact you have on others. Keep steady in doing the best for your patients and leave your personal troubles at the gate.” And I learned, the hard way, that personal troubles included a random downpour from Mother Nature.

Image via KimLowe of Pixabay. Click here to view their gallery.

As a clinical nursing instructor, I remain grateful for the experiences I’ve had in the field. I have been forever influenced by the very best and the very worst I have encountered along the way.

Working with students in the area of behavioral health nursing can cause lots of anxiety, usually due to a fear of the unknown.

“Be kind. Be firm. Be consistent. You may never know the positive impact you have on others. Keep steady in doing the best for your students and leave your personal troubles at the gate.”

Sometimes, when I’m really lucky, a student will tell me how I may have influenced a decision or a crossroads in their education/career before and after graduation. This type of feedback is golden to me. It reminds me of why I truly love my work.

Here are some examples of my ‘you never know’ emails from a couple former students...

I wanted to take a moment and thank you for everything you have taught me about nursing. Behavioral Health was something I have always been interested in, but you made me have more of an interest in it. You taught me so much in our time together. You gave me the inspiration to continue to become a nurse.

Last year, I failed one of my classes. I felt like I couldn't become a nurse because I wasn't smart enough. Even when I felt like giving up I continued on my path to become a nurse, because you had given me such kind words during clinical. You told me how much nursing was the career for me. I ended up getting my minor in psychology.

And now a year later I am retaking the course I failed and am loving it this time. I am still unsure if I will do psych nursing, but it is on my options list. Thank you so much for being an amazing clinical instructor.

I miss spending clinical rotations with you! I know I was a nervous wreck, but I want to thank you for helping me and guiding me through. You truly are an amazing teacher and that is something so special to students, and you have inspired me.

The thought of not being a nursing student has been on my mind for a long time now, and after talking everything through, with you and a few others I trust, I have made a decision. It was certainly tough, especially because I worked so hard to get to where I am today, but I have officially withdrawn from the nursing program. I will, however, start up soon as a psychology major. While this has been a difficult decision to make, I truly feel that in the end it will be best for me. My mindset is to take everything I have learned, and apply it to a new perspective.

Thank you SO much for everything. I am very happy to have met you, because seeing you as a teacher has greatly inspired me. You see the best in people no matter what, and the world needs more of that.

During this season of Thanksgiving, I am grateful to my students - both former and current. I continue to learn so much from these hopeful, creative and inspiring young minds.

In closing I want to share a song that gives me a boost whenever I need to call upon my inner strength, especially in times of uncertainty.