If you are a sick patient you are allowed to be in regression. You are not on duty then and nobody needs to know that you are a nurse. You can be a whiny, sick human being looking for comfort and help, because you are just a sick human being as anybody else in that situation.

Thank you S. Béatrice Marianne Ewalds-Kvist I agree with you obviously , but nurses are socialized to suppress negative behaviors and act like nurses whenever they encounter a problem. I do not know if it is because society holds nurses in high esteem or because nurses are trained to be problem-solvers or a combination of the two?

brigid

An interesting discussion.

Sure Nurses are human beings and they suffer like any person and they sometimes when they are exhausted or depressed they demand comfort and love.

Its job

Maitham Ghaly Yousif Mohamad M. Awad Ali mohamed rashed

Nour Shakir

Thank you Luaay Abdulwahid Shihab

An interesting discussion.

I think nurses are the corner stone of the humaitarian behavior in the health care system. Patients seek their devoted care to help them cope with their illnesses and recovery. Therefore, nurses become a role model for the other health care providers.

Still, nurses need the support to handle such stressful job, to avoid any burn out or distress .

Mohamad-Hani Temsah thank you for you thoughtful comments. I agree that the nurse is the cornerstone by virtue of her constant presence, thank you for reminding me, brigid

Joshua O. Ighalo thank you for your insight, brigid

A nurse/nursing/caregiver dealing daily with life and death experience,evolving into their personality

Peter Schaefer nurse taskmaster, teacher, trust, object of abuse, use, muse but are they human trying to be all things but themselves. Thank you for the vibe Peter and the truth, brigid

Nurses spend the most time with the sick and those looking for comfort, so they have to be genuine care-givers. Not anyone can be a nurse, they work very hard in a critical field between life and death. They are very careful not to make a bad mistake that can hurt or end the life of a sick person.

Although all professionals are held and expected to be with a high standard, but health professionals, including nurses should be the highest, since they directly involve with the life of human beings.

Thank you Michael Issigonis nursing can be a fabulous and frightening profession. Thank you for the positive affirmations, brigid

You are correct Dejenie Alemayehu Lakew nurses are tasked with protecting life and need to have high standards. I should not be whining because I want an excuse to act like a child when I am sick or frustrated with the customer service that I am not receiving, brigid

Hassan Izzeddin Sarsak

brigid

Thank you , you are too kind Aparna Sathya Murthy . Nursing can definitely peel your skin like an onion. But it can also be very rewarding, brigid

Nurses are held in high behavioural standard by virtue of the sacrifice and humane nature of their work.

Thank you very much for the kind comments Khuplianlam Tungnung . I tend to forget that most countries still view nursing with great respect. Research

suggests that America does as well, but that is becoming harder to believe. There are notices in the hospitals that verbal and physical violence will not be tolerated against nurses but that is not the norm.

@ Brigid C

Nurses are held to a higher standard than other professionals because they deal with patients on a constant basis, and their actions could lead to injury or death to someone if they are not careful. Standards that nurses must uphold are similar to others in the same healthcare field.

From the viewpoint of integral health care, professional nursing is one of the practical foundations of medicine, which implies high behavioral expectations.

Good question to follow

مهنة التمريض مهنية انسانية والاصل أن يختار لها أفضل الأشخاص ليقوموا بتقديم المساعدات للاخرين

التالية

Thank you Nirmala S.V.S.G for your insights, I was feeling under appreciated yesterday and you reminded me of the importance of perspective.

brigid

Angel

Sadanand Pandey

brigid

Because nursing is a noble profession who can try to save a patient life utmost .She/ He will be a better co-ordinator between Doctor and patient relatives .

Dear @Fred Romano,

you make important points about death being an absolute and that antibiotics can be dangerous. Thank you for your thoughtful insights, brigid

Follow

I feel nurse position is next to Doctor who cares for patient. Nurse follows the guidelines of doctor and reports when serious until then nurse manages. Nurse gives moral strength to a patient and inculcates confidence to patient by a pleasent smile and good words. The reason being the patient should feel comfortable and happen to listen. Hence behavioural standards of nurse is high.

Because they are dealing with life.

Following!

Thank you for you interest in this important medical issue, Carine Temegne Nono , and Alyaa Sadee and Maitham Ghaly Yousif ,

brigid

Thank you Jaydip Datta for your insight. Nurses and Doctors among other professions have a very intimate connection to people, I tend to forget that I can not just drop my nursing role when I leave the hospital.

brigid

You are too right Bruce Robin Nyamweha , I think that is why I wish that my free time is for me, not nurse me. If that makes sense. I frequently try to help people as a nurse when I am not at the hospital, so I think that I should have more "me" time when I do not feel like a nurse (as an example, when I am sick).

brigid

Thank you for your comments, I hope that I did not make a mess of your name, brigid

سالم عبدالله أبو مخدة

Interesting topic following

Dear Dr Lamia Mustafa Al-Naama , I appreciate your review of my question.

Kind regards,

brigid

Nursing has a tradition, in which, one is trained to master every situation they are in; and majority of them turn out to be good individuals who possess adult ego.they show integrity in their behavior and have great critical thinking and problem solving abilities.

Thank you Renu Susan Thomas, I appreciate your insights,

brigid

nurses continuously dealing with human being or life. They should be careful in their actions, otherwise somebodies life will be in danger. It may not be effect a person alone can be their dependents or family.

Dear Sini Kunnumpurath Pappachan

I agree most wholeheartedly at work. I meant that when nurses are not at work, if they are seeking assistance, they are always nurses-not patients or clients or consumers, so they are expected to be demure and not stand up for themselves.

Thank you for your insights, brigid

Nurses are doing a very humanitarian job that deserves respect and admiration by all.

Beeing a Nurse is very risky for your health, nurses have special stress and there exists a hugh gap between job-requirements, objective and subjective demands on the one side and possibilities to 're-charge', integrate all aspects of personal burden and having space in general on the other side! Nursing is one of the jobs which urgently need more "space" for such thoughts…

the following literature reveals, that this problem is well known. But nevertheless a nurse is not good paid, does overtime hours and seldom balint-work or other sort of supervision and there is Little room for inner work, balance and so on...

Alspach,G.(2007).Criticalcarenurses as coworkers: Are our interactions niceornasty? Critical Care Nurse, 27 (3), 10–14. Beck,C.T. 2011). Secondarytraumaticstress in nurses: A systematic review. Archivesof Psychiatric Nursing, 25 (1), 1–10. Bloniasz, E. R. (2011). Caring for the caretaker: A nursing process approach. Creative Nursing, 17 (1), 12–15. Burtson, P. L., Stichler, J. F. (2010). Nursing work environment and nurse caring: Relationship among motivational factors. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66 (8), 1819–1831. Corley, M. C., Minick, P., Elswick, R. K., Jacobs, M. (2005). Nurse moral distress and ethical work environment. Nursing Ethics, 12 (4), 381–390. Epstein,E.,Delgado,S.(2010).Understanding and adressing Moral distress. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 15 (3). http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/Courage-and-Distress/Understanding-Moral-Distress.html Hooper, C., Craig, J., Janvrin, D. R., Wetsel, M. A., Reimels, E. (2010). Compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue among emergency nurses compared with nurses in other selected inpatient specialties. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 36 (5), 420–427. Longo, J. (2010). Combating disruptive behaviors: Strategies to promote a healthy work environment. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 15 (1). Schmalenberg,C.,Kramer,M.(2009).Nurse-physician relationships in hospitals: 20.000 nurses tell their story. Critical Care Nurse, 29 (1), 74–83. Young, J. L., Derr, D. M., Cicchillo, V. J., Bressler, S. (2011). Compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress in heart and vascular nurses. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 34 (3), 227–234.

Dear Christian Jost

thank you for your detailed and thoughtful response. Nursing as well as other professions that seek to help people when there is tragedy or sickness have high societal expectations. It leads to depression and burn-out while still being the most amazing human journey.

brigid

Nurse profession is itself is high. No one cares like nurse does. Once admitted to a hospital, nurse cares the patient with care and comfort. Nurse knows the pulse of the patient and deals accordingly. Nurse tells and reciprocates in such a way that patient listens. Hence, nurse is set and said to have high behavioural standards.

Dear Terry Purvis

Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments, brigid

One core-duties is also often underrated: The Translation! Many patients feel helpless in the communication with the physicians, Need time to understand, room to comprehend and feel what happens with them, Need space to find words for themselves and their familiy etc. Within this a Nurse has a central role! Thank you all nurses! - from a physician who has learned a lot in his life from the nurses.

Dear Pisipaty Srinivas Kishore ,

Thank you for your thoughtful insights. Nursing is the most amazing experience when a patient or family gets what they need to heal, death is sometimes a blessing that patients, families and medical personnel have a hard time with. It is what I find so difficult.

brigid

Dear Christian Jost ,

Thank you so much for the kind words. Patients and families not to mention medical personnel do better when there is respect. Teaching is my favorite part of nursing because when a patient a medicine or course of action are important then the road to recovery is easier and more successful.

brigid

Dear Zainab Nizar Jawad

thank you for your consideration and comment.

brigid

Following..

Dear Abdul Kuddus

Thank you for your interest in my question.

brigid

Dear Sajda Taha Mahmood

thank you for the kind words about what nursing should be. I appreciate your thoughtful insights. I wrote the question when I was sick and disappointed that I did not receive the care I give. brigid

Because they deal with human lives and this requires high standards of behavior

Dear Shakir Faris Tuleab

Thank you for your comments about the honorableness of nursing. I agree with them. I just wish that when nurses are not working, that they are allowed to be human-weak, grumpy, happy, whatever, they feel like being.

I know that other professions are also always on duty. But nurses are viewed as biddable even when they do not feel like being so. It is frustrating. That being said, I enjoy the satisfaction that nursing offers. brigid

Dear Nour Shakir

thank you for your consideration of this discussion. brigid

Although the doctor or surgeon is the main person providing the treatment, nurses are the first points of contact for any patient. They tend to the patients on a constant basis and are very aware the person's conditions intimately more so than even the doctor in many cases. Thus they are held to a higher standard of behavior and ethics.

لأن عملهم يتعلق بالمحافظة على أرواح البشر

Dear Sajda Taha Mahmood

You are absolutely right. When a nurse is working, she needs to put her problems aside and care for the patient. Kindness is one of the best treatments that a nurse can offer.

brigid

Dear Srini Vasan ,

Thank you for joining the conversation and your thoughtful comments. I agree.

brigid

Dear Afraa Ibrahim

Thank you for adding to the discussion. I of course agree that high standards of behavior are required when caring for a patient. Touch, human compassion are part of what makes nursing an art and not just a science.

brigid

Why nurses are expected to be nurses first is because they vowed to be. Ethics comes in. They are also trained to be. It may seem unreasonable that they are expected to be superhuman but "to whom much is given, much is expected." the Bible says. Also they relate with people at their most vulnerable conditions, in sickness, when even the strong needs help and compassion.

Obianuju P. Umeji

Dear Obianuju P. Umeji

I agree totally with you, I just wish that when I wasn't a nurse, I could just be me. When I am taking care of patients, I am present. It is a gift to be able to help others when their worlds are shattered or badly dented.

Thank you for joining in the conversation and for your thoughtful insights.

brigid

Dear سالم عبدالله أبو مخدة

Thank you for joining in on the conversation, but I do not know how to translate your comment.

brigid

Dear Terry Purvis

Thank you for your thoughtful insight. Welcome to the conversation. I do not totally agree with you. The question was prompted because I was sick and off duty. Because, I was known as a nurse, I got attitude that I should be less assertive to receive care and more grateful that I might receive care. It goes without saying that the patient is the priority. I am starting to think though that the new trend to expecting respect from patients and family is not a bad thing. I have had 2 thoroughly unpleasant patients recently. They were well-behaved with male nurses but they were inappropriate, demeaning and just nasty with the female nurses. I usually can cajole the nasties, but by the time I went home, I was in tears. I hate the verbal abuse and threats of police action and lawsuits from rational patients. I feel like saying that if you do not want to get better or receive care in the first place, why did you agree to surgery or come to the hospital? If that sounds insensitive, maybe it is. Lack of control makes people act in ways that they would not normally. I am getting tired of being a punching bag-literally and figuratively.

brigid

Hi,

Nurses are considered to be guardian angels who understand the pains of a patient, and are expected to be polite and soft spoken. But, of course they are humans too; It maybe shocking to witness an angelic figure being furious. This, I think may be the reason, the nurses are expected to follows some strict regulations.

Because they deal with patients on a constant basis, and their actions could lead to injury or death to someone if they are not careful.

Dear Terry,

I agree with you, that is the annoying part, in a way. If a nurse's private live is interfering with her being able to provide good care for those entrusted to her care, she needs to call in sick, find a different part of nursing or leave nursing if she is so emotionally exhausted from nursing that good, compassionate care is impossible. Again you have caught me whining when I was tired and could not ignore or rearrange my reality of the patient assignment. As someone who regularly gets the challenging patients, it is not easy to take over an assignment when a patient is enraged or difficult or whatever the problem is. With the one particular patient, the charge nurse, the supervisor, and security were at the bedside at different times during the night. The doctor's response was to restrain the patient, not wise and not done. Instead, he was kept as a one to one until morning and given a male nurse who he behaved beautifully for and the same that night for another male nurse.

thank you for your kind suggestions and support, like I said, I was just being whiny and human. I hate when I have to fight myself not to be human. I grew up at a time when nurses were considered to be above the nastiness of negative emotions, so it annoys me when I feel petty and cannot just emote.

brigid

Dear Anastas Ivanov Ivanov ,

Thank you for your thoughtful insights. You are correct. That is the beauty of nursing. It is the human touch figuratively and literally that helps heal. A nurse does have a sacred duty to her patients. It is strange that I read an article by Dr Nino Durglishvili discussing the role of religion and psychological disorders. I loved how she talked about religion's primary goal of caring for the sick and how the Orthodox Church provided stability for Georgians with the collapse of the USSR system.

Growing up, we were raised to believe that every human needs to help others. Nursing was a quasi-religious profession. Many of my instructors were Catholic with the same belief system that I was raised with. The nursing school's model was based on a Catholic nun's theory that health is only achievable when a patient is treated holistically. Meaning that treating an illness is not enough, the nurse had to look at how the illness impacted a patient's psyche and ability to work and live after hospitalization and illness.

So the short answer is yes, nurses are essential to a patient's recovery and need to take that responsibility seriously.

brigid

Dear Navnit Kumar Ramamoorthy ,

Thank you for joining the conversation and your thoughtful comments. More, because I am twisted, thanks for the avenging angel image that popped into my head. I have taken that role before when a patient is intent on injuring himself or others. We had a nurse. She was 80 or 81 when she retired. When we had a patient who was complaining and not cooperative with their recovery care, we would send Mama Lou down to given the mother speech. She was hilarious because she would look a patient in the eye, tell them her age and demand that they give her the respect that they would give them mother. It was hard to resist granny Tight Curls. Mama Lou had her hair curled, blue-rinsed and hair-sprayed to heaven every week. She had a good heart and a steely glint in her eye. NO ONE said no to Mama Lou.

THANKS SO MUCH for the memory.

brigid

It is a noble profession. When a patient is in trouble, nurse take all care to help him/her, we must be very much grateful to them.

Dear Tapas Chatterjee ,

Thank you for your kind words and for joining in on the conversation. Everyone I think has a relative who is a nurse or a relative that has been impacted by a nurse.

brigid

Yes, one of my sister working in health department after competing nursing training course, her younger daughter also now reading B Sc nursing. In this profession sometime personal life also get affected to take care of the patients and save others life.

Dear Tapas Chatterjee ,

Oh dear, you have two nurses in the family. Look out, we can be a handful. I wish both of your nurses good, successful careers. It is quite special.

brigid

I belive it is because they take care of vulnerable people and require a higher level of compassion than most people. As a result, any wrong doing is surprising.

If only the nurse knew the trust patients repose on them, they would be very encouraged that they are holding lives in their hands ..of great esteem.

Obianuju P. Umeji

For someone to become a nurse they must be dedicated, compassionate, and well mannered. To find that a nurse has done something immoral, especially a crime, we would see them as more of a monster than any other person. They are held to a higher moral standard because they show that they have a higher internal moral standard than most people.