Nursing Influence

This week at work has been one of the best weeks of my career – I know that sounds like a huge statement (especially when nothing out of the ordinary happened), but I’m just in this really happy place about my job & the work I do.

As many people know, I started working in a cath lab about 5 months ago and have just been off orientation for 4 weeks now. I’ve been feeling really good about all of the things I’ve been learning and really enjoying my coworkers and the line of work that we get to do each day.

I think the 3 keys to loving your job are:

1. Enjoying your coworkers – At my job, the interaction that I have with my coworkers and physicians is key to this step. It’s been really great to get to know the cardiologists better than I had in the 4.5 years I worked in the ICU. They have all been willing to teach me something new each and every day; anytime I see something I have a question about I dont even hesitate to ask because there’s no intimidation between the physicians and staff. My coworkers have been amazing as well. Sometimes, we all look at the assignments in the morning and let out a big sigh when we see the long day ahead of us; whether it be a busy room, or lots of long & difficult cases but honestly, the day is never really that bad when you’re in a procedure room with people you enjoy spending your day with. The group in my lab are all so knowledgable as well – I can’t even guess how many years of experience the team has combined.

2. Feeling like you’ve made a difference – In the medical field, this often means feeling like you’ve made a difference in your patients’ lives. Working in the cath lab lets you see a quick change in your patients; they (sometimes) come in having excruciating chest pain and leave 60 minutes later with minimal pain, no longer having a heart attack. While our patients very rarely remember us or what happened during the procedure, we know we made a difference. It just feels good to know that.

3. Feeling valued – Knowing that someone appreciates what you’re doing and thinks you’re an important asset to the team is crucial. Whether that feedback comes from a manager, a coworker, or a patient, it’s all the same. That simple “if you weren’t here, things would be less awesome” feeling can mean a lot.

My hospital switched to uniforms about 3 or 4 years ago;  all nurses wear red tops, techs where teal tops, respiratory techs wear wear black, etc, etc…all with black bottoms.  The cath lab staff (along with all of the other staff in the procedural areas) wear hospital issued scrubs that are all teal in color. I’ve always been one to make sure I wear make-up to work or one to wear fun holiday-themed earrings, but since working in the cath lab I’ve been particularly interested in what I can do to have a little fun with my uniform. During shifts when I scrub a case (where we have to wear a hat/mask/sterile gown) I started wearing a patterned scrub cap instead of the disposable caps that the hospital provides and really liked wearing the fun, fabric caps.

So, I started making my own. Sewing has become a hobby of mine over the last few months… I find it very rewarding to see the product that I have created with my own hands. I’ve made a few now with fabric that I had laying around the house, but since I’m in Arizona and spring training season is here, this is my new favorite:

Let’s play ball :) Happy spring everyone!

It’s still been pretty weird at the hospital… our outpatient caths are at a crazy low point (we only had 5 scheduled cases when I got into work yesterday morning when we usually have around 20), but our acutes have been crazy sick. While, I talked about my thoughts on the reasons for this issue last week, I think it’s interesting how the issue affects the staff directly. Since we don’t have many scheduled cases, the managers can’t justify keeping twice the number of staff members in to work and about half of the staff members get cancelled. Knowing that I was one of the few who was going to work yesterday, I brought a magazine with me (my AJN, of course) to help pass the time. Actually, I didn’t end up sitting down for more than my lunch break – we had about 3 cases added on, plus an acute, plus staying 2 hours late to finish a Bi-V ICD insertion, plus getting called back in 30 minutes later for another acute…. I was at work until midnight.

I really don’t mind being busy; I actually prefer it to sitting on my tush all day long, but I think it’s interesting to think about the impact that our current state of health care is having on the hospital staffing. I wish I had the answer to our health care crisis.