Back when I first became a nurse and I thought it was fun to wear a little white hat and white hose, things were different. I had spent my childhood walking 20 miles to and from school and as the mores of the time dictated; it was always through 5 feet of snow and uphill, of course, both ways. I didn’t expect my life or job to be easy.
When I became a young, bright-eyed nurse I was so happy! I was thrilled when the more tenured nurses where kind enough to give me patients they called “a good learning experience”. I was happy because I had a 4-color pen and usually used green (my favorite color) as I worked the evening shift. Best of all, I got a paycheck and one day I would be able to buy a car! * Life was good.
*For anyone born prior to 1978 the custom was to buy your own car rather than the current practice of receiving one from your parents.
Back in those days I took verbal orders and documented just enough to communicate to all the clinical information I thought the next nurse might need to know. I wrote in green after the black ink and knew the red ink would follow mine. No “Core Measures”, no “Nutritional Assessment”, no “Domestic Violence Screening”, no “Suicide Risk Assessment”, no “Infectious Disease Screening” just plain old patient care. This archaic practice seemed to allow more freedom to actually take care of patients, maybe even talk with them or their family a minute or two.
I also had a chance to work with doctors! I gave my chair to the doctors when they walked in, brought them coffee and stood in awe of their brilliance. If one of the doctors yelled at me in front of patients or colleagues and/or felt our interaction was best punctuated by tossing the chart in the direction of my head, I was giddy for they had acknowledged my existence!
I should have known this wonderful way of life could not last. I don’t know if I changed or the things around me changed or if it was some combination of the two. Maybe my white hose were too tight or I took one too many charts to the head. Maybe it was the requirement to document more ergo taking care of patients less. Maybe it was because when I stopped being the “new” nurse and wanted to share my love of patients that provided “a good learning experience” with the new “new” nurses they didn’t seem to appreciate it.
I have witnessed a lot of changes the nursing profession over the past 25 years some good, some not so good, but so goes life. Everything changes eventually. Through it all nursing remains one of the most trusted professions in the U.S. I wouldn’t trade all of my years of being trusted to deliver care for anything…except maybe a 4-color pen.
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