Why I Love My Job

I just love it when I arrive at work, and I realize that I get the privilege of caring for a sweet elderly person.  This week I had the opportunity of caring for a patient that if I could I would totally bring him home with me.  In fact in the last two years of working as a nurse, I have started a “collection” of patients that I would bring home.  It’s really weird but nurses have the uncanny ability to connect with their patients in just a few minutes or upon first introduction.  This is not always the case, since we sometimes have difficult patients that we have to pray for the strength to not kill before the end of our shifts.

This week I cared for one of those patients that just touched my heart.  As the day nurse was telling me about him, I knew we were going to get along great.  This elderly patient was living alone when he passed out and fell at home.  This was due to his sodium level being incredibly low.  His family members did not arrive at his house to find him down for three days.  So for three days the patient was in and out of consciousness and lying on his living room floor.  When the family members found him he had developed many different pressure ulcers all over his body.  He was a hot mess.

The patient had previously had a stroke and the day nurse informed me that he did not speak much and when he did he was incomprehensible.  She informed me that he had not spoken to her on her shift but rather he would just smile at her. 

As we rounded on the patient and I was introduced to him, he gave me the biggest, cutest smile I have ever seen.  He was missing almost all of his teeth, so it was one of those toothless smiles that are just so cute.   I asked him if he needed anything before I came back and he just continued smiling and nodded his head.  He definitely won my heart in that brief moment.

When I returned to his room, his daughter and wife were getting ready to leave.  They had come in to check on him and visit.  He was so happy while they were there.  It was adorable.  After his family left, I did my assessment and was talking to him.  I got the idea that he may have been a little hard of hearing so I raised my voice a little when I was talking to him, and he instantly began talking to me.  He just rambled on and on about everything and nothing at the same time. 

I quickly learned that this older gentlemen was a little flirt and was thoroughly enjoying the attention I was giving to him. I spent a lot of time with this patient that night and he definitely made my night and my week.    By the time I left in the morning I had heard his whole life story, and had been flirted with for the majority of the night.  It made me realize it is for these patients that I became a nurse and why I enjoy my job so much, and why it is so worth it!