Let me assert, I believe there is very little wrong with our profession. However, web sites have recently been asking questions like:
Is staffing safe in your facility? Are you aware 93% of you said no? Also did you know 75% percent of you are unhappy with our profession?
Like me, are you reading bulletin boards filled with negative comments posted by frustrated nurses leaving the industry?
The problem I contend, is the mixing of health care and business. Like all vital services, people actually want them, they just don't want to pay for them. Hospitals (and their parent companies) like all big businesses cannot be satisfied with any level of profit. Shareholders demand more, more, more. Health care costs have been driven to dangerous levels. The price we pay: a decreased staff in order to increase profits.
Herein lies the answer. As a very young nurse, I was blessed with a terrific mentor. In the days before downsizing, and when team nursing was the standard, I was taught that I would never meet all the needs of all the patients. That there would always be, she said, more patients needing nursing care than resources would allow. She went on to say that "you must go home happy knowing that today, you did the best you could and, that you did no harm". This is a philosophy I have carried with me throughout my career as a staff nurse and nursing manager working in med/surg, ICU, ERs, home care and long-term care.
How can you do that, well a very special person to me teaches "what you focus on expands". This special person is my sister Linda, who is the president of her own company, DreamQuest International. Linda is a motivational and inspirational speaker. Her message is relevant to all people in all industries. She presents workshops and seminars to health care centers, fortune 500 companies, schools, troubled youths, teachers, nurses and moms, just to name a few.
