The Praise Project: 2013

Thursday, December 5, 2013

You can trust your loved ones with this chick.

Kara rocks! We met both working as travel nurses. I'll never forget the time she confronted other staff about the policy regarding "comfort measures". A patient that had no friends or family and was actively dying had comfort orders only in his chart. This means no treatment will be given because there is nothing more that can be done. The death rattle could be heard and the patient was visibly distressed. Per policy we could only make him comfortable. Well, blankets and repositioning was not doing the trick. The other staff said to shut the door. One person said, "there's nothing we can do. He may look like he's dying but could live another couple of days. He was a mean, miserable man anyways." The patient had no one to advocate on his behalf. So Kara stepped up and we were able to administer morphine and oxygen to the patient. I held his hand until my shift was over. He passed away 30 minutes into the next shift. I'm not sure, what, if anything the patient felt during his last few hours, but, thanks to Kara, he at least appeared peaceful in his final moments.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Couldn't have made it without her

Kaia! My first friend from South Dakota. Your help during the disorganized mess of scheduling and us not being assigned to a specific unit etc. etc. kept me sane!

A Special Special Woman

Mandie Joy is so brave. A trip to Uganda expanded her career as a nurse to include mothering orphans and facilitating adoptions. Check out her blog: http://mandiejoy.com

Who I Admire

I wish I could get in touch with you Melissa! You embody the nurse I aspire to be one day. I'll never forget all the times you sat down on the bed and prayed for your patients in the middle of a chaotic crazy busy shift.

Born to be a Nurse

David feels strongly about making connections with his patients. After washing his hands, he makes a point to touch each patient with his bare hands. He believes physical touch is a part of the healing process.

Instant Friend

Mindy made my travel assignment at Vidant Medical Center better. Always willing to lend a hand, I was able to provide better care with her on my team.

Angel Amongst Us

Evelyn was a caregiver to her ill husband while starting her new career in nursing at Grady Hospital.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

She may be tiny, but she is strong.

At work I called her Lewis. Lorenzia is one of the hardest working nurses I've ever had the privilege of knowing.

A Nurse/Friend/Coworker I will never forget:

Crystal was one of the only people there for me when my little brother passed away.

The Praise Project Explained

A "brag book" for nurses by nurses.

Please add new faces to the list and share your experiences with us!! With HIPAA and patient privacy laws, many healthcare providers are hesitant to use social media to share real stories or provide actual information about their jobs. This makes it difficult for nurses to utilize technology to accurately portray a career in nursing to the general public. Patients are protected and can share their experiences while nurses are neither protected nor allowed to have a voice. One way around this is to tell other nurses stories for them. Most nurses do care. Most nurses do the best they can with what they have. Most nurses go above and beyond the call of duty EVERY day. I've traveled from coast to coast in the United States working in different hospital settings. If people knew just how significant the nurse is to the quality, plan, and outcome of the care received, maybe then we would be protected and our voices would be heard. In the meantime, I know one thing that nurses could use more of and what serves this blog's purpose:

PRAISE.

Nurses hardly get a thank you for all they do. We don't have competitions with other staff or rankings for our performance. We don't have incentives to motivate us. We don't get rewarded for not making errors. We don't get rewarded for anything. We dont get to choose our clients. We are obligated to work with or without a secretary, a nurse tech, and when the unit runs out of supplies. We now have to chart the cost of items we use so that the patient is charged instead of the unit/hospital. Most facilities require we work every other weekend and several holidays. We work in a setting that functions as a business yet refuses to acknowledge the importance of employee satisfaction. It is vital to success (ex. Google). We rarely see our boss or anyone making the staffing, budget, and other unit decisions, and these decisions are never explained to us. So what do we do? Show up day in and day out because we need a paycheck, we settle for the way things are, and if we didn't, then who would care for all these people???

Yes, I signed up to be a nurse. I chose this vocation. That does not necessarily mean I knew what I was getting myself into. I'm frustrated with reading forums where nurses being honest are considered complainers by fellow nurses or where the best stories are about the bizarre encounters with mentally ill patients. Although the blogs are well written and relatable, I think it makes us seem like unhappy and insensitive people to everyone outside the nursing community. I know it's partly because it's one of the only ways we can legally express ourselves as nurses.

So after a year of looking for another approach, I figured a blog where we can share the witnessed actions of incredible nurses would at least give us a chance to remind each other that we are in this together. I don't want to resign to the belief that things are the way they are, and I must keep my mouth shut or find another career. I want to see nurses unite and speak up. For all of you who love your job, please support those of us that work on general medicine, rehab, psych, oncology, telemetry, etc. units. and in LTC/nursing homes.

The Praise Project