I Learned This

The power of the nurse. I haven't met any Nurse Ratched's yet.

I've learned that they have chosen their profession not for the money, but for their care and concern for patients. Many of the oncology nurses have chosen their profession because they have been affected by someone in their lives who had cancer. They will tell you that when a patient does well, it reaffirms their career choice profession.

I've learned a lot from them. A friend of mine who is a nurse told me that being demanding of a nurse doesn't necessarily guarantee you the best care. She taught me the expression, "Would it be possible...." as a preface to requesting something of a nurse. I used that wording quite often while I was at MCV and never received a negative response.

I remember one morning when the day nurse had just started making her rounds. As she came into my room, I had a bout of nausea and I apologized and asked her if it would be possible to get some anti-nausea medicine. Since I had the port lines in me, she was able to inject it intravenously and I recovered in no time at all. As I apologized again, she stated, "It's OK, I have that effect on most men."

I could share countless stories of the good work by nurses (and I probably will) since last year. I will share the stories so that you can know of their importance to your good health, physically and mentally, should you be in a situation where you interact with them as a patient or as a caregiver to a patient.