I feel special!

Most days I still feel so new at work. Then I often focus on the things that could have gone better on my way home.

Today I feel pretty nice. I had a sweet young couple in labor all night long.

Ahhh...the joys of the job. This patient was complimenting me and praising nurses, and getting a little teary, as I'm putting in a catheter. I thought it was so nice to hear so many nice things about the care I was giving and my job in general.

The phrase that she said that stuck out to me was "Where were you this morning when I needed you?". It makes me feel like I'm giving optimal care when a patient states, like this phrase, that they would have welcomed my nursing care in another shift where I wasn't present.

I got lots of good feedback from this patient about some of my habits that are helpful! I often throw in a ton of teaching about what I'm doing and why throughout the labor. She told me, very articulately, what was helpful! That's great!

It is nice to bond with a couple. That is one special part about my job! I like making my way into the hearts of the dads. It is kind of like a challenge. I want to get one smile out of them. Or a laugh. And I want to win their trust that my intentions are to give the best care to their wives as possible. Some warm up quickly, and some take a little working on! Humor almost always helps!

So, cheers to a successful night of nursing! Yeah for nice patients! Yeah for positive feedback!

Now, I'm off to bed. This was my last night of three....one day shift to go on monday before I have a week off and we head to KC on thursday! Nite!