Day in the life of a Nurse

It’s 8am and I’m 2 coffees deep. First up, vaccination for an 18-month-old boy. His hair is bright red, his eyes are pale blue. He looks healthy. “This one is going to be difficult” I think as I draw up the vaccinations. He needs 3 needles and little boys are surprisingly strong. His mother holds him down and I jab him in his chunky thighs as he squirms and wails, even my lolly-pop bribe is no good.

My next patient arrives for an excision of a squamous cell carcinoma; a skin cancer which if left untreated can spread anywhere in the body and cause death. Her face is disfigured from multiple surgeries, skin grafts and flaps. She's had upwards of 20 skin cancers removed.

Nonetheless, she still smiles and tells me “it could be worse."

And here I am stressing about a new outbreak of pimples I’ve acquired from my latest chocolate binge. I help the doctor cut out yet another skin cancer, clean up the mess, and move on to my next patient.

“So you’re here for a diabetic care plan?”

“Care plan? What is that?”

“Sir, you have diabetes, that’s why you’re here isn’t it?" I question the elderly gentleman, whose first language is not English.

His face is weathered. His belly is round.

He smiles at me and asks “What’s diabetes?”

Some days I educate patients, other days I comfort them. On this particular day, I did both. After educating this man about his chronic condition and telling him he needs to lose weight, he simply tells me “But I don’t want to change my diet, I like food too much”.

I become frustrated, as a nurse it is my duty to promote health, but if the patient doesn’t want to comply, then what more can I do?

“Ever since my wife passed away, I just don’t care.”

My heart sinks and suddenly my frustration at the non-compliant patient disperses. I couldn’t imagine spending my life with the person I love, only to have them leave this world.

Every so often my heart is touched by a patient;

The widowed man who still keeps a photo album of his professional ice skater wife close by, the elderly woman reminiscing about her days of sneaking out with her boyfriend to go dancing, the child who shows off his ability to count to 50...

The sad stories, the happy stories, all make being a nurse so incredibly special.

One question that has been raised a few times is “does it make you sad?” The short answer; no. I love being a nurse, and although there are sad moments, it warms my heart to know that I can be an ear for someone who has no one.