To You Nurses: What Makes You a Good Nurse? Here it is!

Every profession has its own specific issues, and nursing is one of those professions whose issues are actually complex and hurting. Besides, nursing issues are usually ignored, can you guess why?
I cannot tell now (that shall be a topic of another day), but I probably think nursing is its own problem! Or maybe because it originally belongs to women, the same women who are still mistreated and under-looked by both their governments and families! Sure? What if these women are actually troubles themselves?
You are surprised, aren’t you?
Well, like I said, we shall come back to that (after all I hate giving opinions that have no facts or evidence).
But today, we have something interesting here on Life and Health website; what makes you a good nurse?
Have you ever wondered if you are actually a good nurse? What do you measure yourself against to tell that you are actually a great and good nurse? Nightingale? Yeah, we got your back; find the truth now.
What is nursing? And who is a nurse?
Nursing is simply the profession, oh no, call it the act of taking care of the sick. Some definitions emphasize that nursing can apply even to those who are well, but still have some deficiency; cannot perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will, or knowledge (Virginia Henderson (2009).
So nursing is simply taking care of people’s health whether they are actually ill or simply lack the strength, will or knowledge to take care of their health.
Got it, right?
Waoh! So who is a nurse?
Of course, a nurse is that person who takes care of the sick. But wait! So many people take care of the sick, how do we differentiate them from a nurse?
I personally think that nurses are different from other health workers because they have enough time with patients or the sick. In other words, nurses do not take care of the patients professionally and go, they are more than that: nurses are patients’ immediate friends and family next to the patient’ family or caretakers.
Apart from this unique relationship between a nurse and the patient, they (nurses) are health workers like all others.
From many perspectives, nurses are more like or are closer to public health professionals than to clinical doctors. What makes me think this way? Read this definition; “nursing is a field concerned with taking care of ill or injured persons; and providing preventive health care to well persons” (www.nursingschoolhub.com; accessed on 27/04/2017)
But wait! Why are we here?
What makes you a good nurse?
If you have followed closely, then you must have noticed that nursing or a nurse is about two things; her and her patient or his and his patient (of course you are aware that a nurse can either be a female or male)
Yes, did you hear me well? I seriously said that nursing is about YOU and the PATIENT and nothing less or more.
Nursing History (brief)
According to writers like O’ Lynn (2007) and Levine (1965), the history of nursing goes as far as 5^th century (BC) (read Hippocratic collection). Also, it is a known fact that religious nuns and monks used to take care of the sick (Bloy M, 1820-1910; Ferngren, 2009; Sachedina, 2009, and many more).
Historical writers in relation to protestant reformation claim that nursing experienced a serious setback when reformists closed monasteries and convents where monks, nuns and other dedicated religious people had been taking care of the sick. This was around 16^th century. It is actually claimed that this setback lasted about 200 years (Leonard, 2007; Lundy, 2014)
Around 19^th century, Florence Nightingale laid the foundation for professional nursing (call it modern nursing) [Winkel, 2009; Quinn, 2010). For those who studied nursing and the history of Florence Nightingale, you can easily remember those other famous women and nurses of those times following Florence.
Yes, it is famously known that the Catholic Church has always pioneered nursing up to today. Around 1882 and 1883, formal nurses were actually involved in wars to take care of wounded soldiers. For example, in First Boer war.
But the question remains; what was it about?
Of course, it was about the patient and that nurse.
But lately, nursing has been jeopardized! Actually, writers like Chin (2008) cite that in 20^th century during modern and professional nursing era, “the Nightingale-Style School began to disappear. Hospitals and physicians saw women in nursing as a source of free or inexpensive labor. Exploitations of nurses were not uncommon by employers, physicians and educational providers” (Chin and Kramer (2008)
Please, mark the underlined words!
Yes, nursing was originally for women (19 and early 20^th centuries) though increased advocacy for workplace equality later declared it a gender-neutral profession. Don’t you see our root of the problem? (Waoh, let’s save this for another day)
The nurse and patient
From the above history of nursing to the present, it is clear that a nurse is defined by her relationship with the patient (after all it our (I am a nurse by the way!) approach to patient’s care that makes us different).
Nightingale was a great nurse not because she had knowledge, was smart, respected elders, or ignored insults, but because she had time for her patients and all she ever did was about her and her patients; nothing else.
As we have seen above, as nursing became more modernized and looked useful, hospitals, churches, employers, and other powerful people started taking advantage of those poor women nurses and used them for their production at no cost at all or less pay. Is it different from today? Maybe it is in your country.
What is the point?
The point is clear; you don’t become a good nurse by becoming obedient to your bosses, your government, doctors or employers; you become a good nurse by taking care of your patients very well.
Of course, there are many factors that should enable you to take care of your patients very well, including having harmony with your employers or fellow health workers, but this still does not displace the core duty; your patients.
I personally don’t think you should measure your performance or goodness as a nurse against your salary, appreciations from your in-charge or manager or employer, but by appreciations from your patients and how better they are getting.
So many nurses are stuck in this; we mind so much about pleasing our managers, fellow staff, or management and forget about our core duty; the patients.
Take Home
Do not measure your performance against what people (I mean, in-charge, ward manager, administrator, government or any other employer) say, but against how your patients are or how they feel when you enter the ward.
Personally, since school up to today, I believe I am a great nurse and this has nothing to do with my supervisor’s comments, fellow staff’s recommendations, and any kind of pay from my employer, but my patients. Yes, whenever I come on duty, my focus is on patients and how they feel about me and nothing else.
Of course, this does not mean that I don’t fall short of Patient’s expectations; it simply means that I only care about them being happy that I am with them. And when I let them down (which I have done more than once by the way), I feel pain and bad because that is only when I am A BAD nurse!
Yes, that is what makes you a good nurse; YOU and your PATIENT’s relationship and not you and employer’s agreements.
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