Notes on Nursing

Healthcare workers as a whole are either excellent when it comes to his or her own health or down right shitty. I find myself the former than the latter.

Which over the course of a few months and more recently today, its been brought to my attention that as a nurse..."I should know better."

Although I lack any significant research at my disposal, healthcare workers are more likely to partake in mal-adaptive behaviors such that of drug use, alchohol, over-eating or the most ironic, smoking. Why is that? Stress relief mainly. Anyone over on ye ole cynical_nurse community will tell you, being a nurse can be a royal bitch. Working weekends, holidays, twelve hour shifts, putting up with demanding patients, ethical issues, not to mention just life and death issues, can take a toll on ones mental state. Thus an easier reliever of stress is the bottle and chain.

Mind you there are those saddistic individuals who breathe, eat, sleep nursing, and tend to strike out anger and frustration in the gym, running or other matters of exercise. As the general population, I'm suggestion this percentile is quite small.

Knowledge is power, and knowing about nursing, about healthcare, can one make those decisions regarding his or her own health. We are able to read into lab results, titrate our own medications, or understand what they are, than just the common joe off the street. Therefore we have the upper hand....We know that we are supposed to eat healthy, not smoke, watch our intake of alchohol, and yet we don't. The reasons for not following what we know is best.... vary....and I won't go into detail...because it could go on into infinity.....

But look at it this way: when one works on a computer all day, as the career choice, he or she isn't going to want to come home and work on a computer all night.

I take care of people all night long. The last thing I will want to do on my day off, is sit in a doctors office......yes, I know better, I know the risks, but why do nurses still do maladaptive behaviors... because they are not on the time-clock--we may take care of people day in and day out.. but we don't eat and breathe, and sleep nursing...

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday tattooedartgirl! Was planning on ringing you this afternoon, totally flaked. My bad.