What does it take to be a nurse?
The last line of defense for a patient
It’s widely known that nursing is a thankless job. Even with long hours, a slew of patients, and providing continual, consistent care, nurses are rarely thanked for what they do. If your wife, brother, or cousin is a nurse, you shout from the rooftops to advocate for your nurse, because you know how much they sacrifice.
But most people outside the field don’t understand like you do. So, what does it take to be a nurse, really?
Nurses face high expectations in school, because the stakes are high in real life.
For a registered nurse, school alone can be a long and grueling process. Before even entering nursing school, most students have to take biology, organic and inorganic chemistry, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, algebra and statistics, psychology and sociology. That’s right, all of this before even being accepted to the program.
After the program begins, it’s a series of tests after tests in each semester, ending in an intensive shadowing period to make sure the nurse is prepared with hands-on experience. For at least 3 months, a nursing student is in class while attending weekly clinicals with a strict, unforgiving attendance policy.
Once the hurdles are through, a nurse can fully lean into their purpose: to be the last line of defense for a patient.
After school is finished, many nurses start working full-time immediately, with no more than two to three weeks for a breather. At this point while working full time, nurses must also pass their state certification to affirm they’re capable of making a decision on behalf of a patient.
Once the hurdles are through, a nurse can fully lean into their purpose: to be the last line of defense for a patient.
Nurses are often the primary advocate for a patient’s health, catching mistakes from doctors, pharmacists, or healthcare providers. Nurses spend the most time with their patients, listening intently to needs, and providing encouragement where possible. Nurses are mentally and physically tough, unrelenting in what they give of themselves in a 12-hour period.
Nurses reverse the status quo, defending their patient to the last, so let’s reverse the status quo — and say thank you.
