#nurses notes

207. 

Our CNO was making rounds the other day and I was surprised when I was called to the nursing station. She had our charge nurse and our CNA there also because she said that Room 207 mentioned the three of us by name when she asked him about his stay there. Apparently, he told them that everyone was great but out of everyone, we were “exceptional.” 

I always wondered if our patients ever remembered us. With the sheer number of patients that go in and out of our unit, I’m sorry to say that I can’t remember every single one by name. But our patients only see the same set of nurses every day for at least 2 weeks. So hearing that made me smile, because hey, maybe I am making a difference. 

That’s why when I came back to work and found out that his wife, who I had seen visiting him a few days ago, had a stroke and passed away, my heart broke. She was literally just there, feeding him spoonfuls of pudding because he didn’t have any appetite to eat anything. And now, she’s gone. 

So today, even though he wasn’t my patient, and even though I had 1000000x other things to do, I sat next to him and I held his hand. I mouthed “I’m sorry,” he nodded, and we just sat there in silence. No words needed. But right before I left, he gave my hand a squeeze and said “Thank you.” 

Being a nurse is hard. It’s physically and mentally demanding. I knew that. 

Coke tumbler let's go! Haha sumakto ang letters C-O-K-E kagabi noong nag dinner kami sa duty. Sabi namin hiraman nalang sa pag gamit hahahahaha

Jaro Cathedral

Well.

It’s been a year since I started working as nurse. Yey. X number of years to go before I retire hahahaha. 

But in all seriousness, this year was equal parts tough and amazing. 

I’m so thankful that I got to start this first year at Paradise Valley Hospital. I honestly can’t imagine a better place to get my bearings and test my nurse-wings out in the real world for the very first time. 

I’ve bounced around three different units but the people I’ve met have been so welcoming and always made me feel like home even though we didn’t know when/if I would leave. 

I’ve learned so much--not just skills wise but also lessons from my coworkers, doctors, and even patients. 

I’ve had patients curse and yell at me. 

But I’ve also had patients ask me how I’m doing, bring the nurses lunch, and try to make my work easier for me. 

There are so many stories, so many lessons that I’ve learned over this past year. There’s not enough time to write about them all. 

There are days when I come home exhausted, crawling into my bed and wondering why I ever decided to become a nurse.

But there are also days when I see my patients making progress, when I get to sit and laugh with them, that my heart swells and I think to myself “This, this is why I became a nurse.” 

One year. 

It’s flown by so fast. 

Sometimes the universe listens to me, sometimes it doesn’t. Today it did char haha. 

I only had 3 patients but I was so tired from the past few days at the wound center that it was taking a more energy to do the minimum amount of work. Thankfully, it’s like my patients were heaven-sent. 

Patient A would always say “thank you,” after every little thing that I did. She’s on contact precaution for C-diff and she can see how much time it takes to glove and gown right before entering her room so tinatanong/pinapagawa na nya lahat ng kelangan nyang itanong/ipagawa once I’m inside so I’m not constantly going in and out. I appreciated that. Then, before the end of her shift, she called to say that she had to use the bedpan and then commented “I’m so sorry, dear. I tried to hold it as long as I could because it’s so much work for you girls.” *Cue tears* Nurses take care of patients. And I can understand when they’re grumpy etc. So having a patient care about me... that’s something. 

Patient B called me into his room to ask about “Ung puting pagkain na may laman sa loob?” We were able to figure out that what he was asking for was siopao. My initial reaction was a) pretend not to find it because b) he’s just going to make a mess while he eats it in bed. And who will clean up that mess? Me. But he was really intent on finding it that he texts his wife to ask where she left it. It was actually in a cup right next to his bed (that I pretended not to see). Fine, he won. I took a siopao and handed it to him and he said “No. Hindi para sakin. Para SAYO.” *Cue tears* What did I do to deserve this kindness T.T