Following the Wise Words of Florence Nightingale.
If a nurse declines to do these kinds of things for her patient, ‘because it is not her business’, I should say that nursing was not her calling -Florence Nightingale.
I have been a Nurse for 33 years and as in the wise words of Florence Nightingale it has been a calling. In fact it has been more than a calling. Some people say it is a vocation some say it is a job but for me it has been my life. I have worked in Intensive Care, been a Health Visitor in the community, worked in a sexual health service and I could not pick a favourite domain. I have witnessed people give of themselves and then give a little bit more. But I can say whatever I have given I have received so much more back.
Whether at the start of life or at the end, or during a person’s life journey, nurses are there to take that passage with their patient and live their experiences with them. For some patients their roughest and harshest days are shared with nurses. I can still remember the name of the first baby I saw being born and the name of the first person I looked after they had died. All of my patients have shaped my life building my moral and ethical compass. Teaching me about myself and they have helped me grow into who I am. I value the memories of so many of my patients and treasure the friends I have made along the way.
I can’t imagine doing anything else. I hope I am being asked to blog when the NHS is 100 years old and I am 81! I will speak to you all again then.