A Long Way from Cherry Ames

After 32 years if Med-Surg nursing, I believe that I can be considered a reliable source. I am a veteran nurse, it seems, I can be getting old and now I am wise.
I have seen many changes in hospitals over the years. I have drifted through primary nursing, team nursing and whatever you call it that I am doing now. I am the everything nurse, whatever that is.
Over the past 5 years, agency and traveling nurses have come and gone. New graduates have done the same thing, but the old folks like me, well we stay. Perhaps because we have no where else to go or perhaps because we are comfortable where we are.
I have adjusted to the computer system for all documentation that does not save me any time at all. I am from the old school, the Cherry Ames world. I love to talk to my patients, get to know them, mind, body and soul. I try to embrace them and reassure them that they are in good hands.
Over the last few years, I have noticed a change in patients and families. They are more knowledgeable and inquisitive now, not as trusting as in the old days. They watch the news, where a hospital error is big news. Hospitals are not the perfect world folks, nurses are human beings, who are not perfect and mistakes will be made.
I would like to say that I have never made an error, but I have and it causes me days of unrest. I can not allow myself an error and I work hard to prevent them.
I have seen the new graduates and I am impressed with their ability to chart on their patients. They are computer literate and love this type of docmentation. The computer is their friend. The old nurses like me, thank God I can type, are still adjusting to the technology. But I knew it was coming and finally I stopped fighting the inevitable and went with the program.
I marvel how agency nurses and travelers with so little orientation can come to our busy med-surg unit and function at all. Yes, they ask questions, and I am glad they do. Yes I have to leave my needy group of patients to help them. I stop to realise that each time I help one of these nurses, I am actually helping a patient. I know that by having agency or travelers on my unit, this will help my patient nurse ratio.
After reading the JCAH article on documentation, I had to smile just a little. I invite them to come spend a day with me. I invite them to take all the phone calls coming in, the family issues, and many medications, that I am supposed to know everything about and then document right on time what I have done that day.
The rule, no documentation, not done. Well, I have one rule to live by, I have to live with myself. I know whatI have done for my patient that day and more importantly, my patient knows as well. You see, I am from the old school, and my documentation is never a priority. Yes, I know it must be done and it is carefully examined by our Nurse Manager. I do my best, but physically meeting my patient's needs are my first thought.
Hospitals are now a business, patients are customers, and nurses are now thinking the same way. Many of us shuttle from hospital to hospital to make the most money. Is it all about the money? Have we lost our true passion for nursing?
I just started reading my Cherry Ames books again, and they still hold my interest. Yes Cherry, there are still good nurses who love their work and their patients. I consider myself to be one of them. My work is not a business, it is a passion. Perhaps we all need to focus on why we went into nursing school in the first place.