A Spoonful of Sugar

One does not have to be Mother Teresa to be a good nurse. You can get away with not caring a lick about your patients, but that is not the majority of us. Nurses generally knew what they signed up for, and quite a few got weeded out in clinicals once they saw what was coming. That being said, it protects us to keep a certain distance. If you were emotionally committed to your patients every shift, you'd burn out. I try to express my empathy in a professional way with my patients... but some, man, they get ya.

It's possible to take care without caring a lot. You can be civil and mindful without significant emotional involvement. BUT it's difficult not to feel some kind of empathy when other people are hurting or injured. Otherwise, you might be a sociopath.

O you are talking about Propaganda; yes nursing is all about disseminating Propaganda, we are trying to get patients to do what we want. Not what the patients wants to do and make the patient, family members, and any other person in hearing range feel good about what we are trying to get them to do or not do.Can one be a nurse and view it as just another day, a job, a paycheck, a means to an alternate end?Yes it is just about the pay check, the hospital wants and only cares about numbers, whether it's staffing or patient happiness scores. I play the numbers game, and as a side note, I take care of my patients.Usually I can play the numbers game pretty well, taking care of my patients and laying down the fog of customer satisfaction. "Yes, I heard that too on the news or read it on the internet, Did I tell you I'm French model , Bonjour! , someone else told me the same thing the other day, be sure to mention that to your doctor when they come in the see you later"Can we care for patients without really caring about them? Is it necessary to fluff and buff while clinically following treatment plans?Yes we all have our special repeat customers who keep coming back despite what we do for them, or How much education we provide, because when they leave they go back to making their own choices in life. How many times does your favorite DKA patient come in with a PH under 7.0 or a non-compliant COPDer, or some other repeat offender? It's all about manipulation, YES, I do care about my patients that are part of my assignment that day. I take care of my patients under my care on my shift to the best of my ability. When my shift ends I turn over there care to someone else and count my day as either a good day or bad day, but mostly just another day.I make a difference because I chose to be a caregiver.

Can we care for patients without really caring about them?I hope so. I don't automatically care about every person walking down the street. Or every person who walks into my clinic and gets on service. I do however try to treat each person as I would want to be treated myself. I have learned to care for others without involving myself by caring too much. To many differences in people to care. Present the facts, provide the professional care, and move on. Can only care about them in the context of that they are human beings on the planet and deserve the same care and respect as all humans, that is were I draw the line. I cry when I watch commercials for christs sake, I can't allow myself to care to much for pts.

Wonderfully encompassing article, jadelpn, that approaches a worthy subject! Great comments, too, that are subjective, yet have a good air of consensual reality about them!Some of the great things about this Nursing Profession are the opportunities we are afforded that can allow us to interweave our basic tenets into our work. For example, we care about our fellow beings, so we merely need to find a way which comprehensively involves our belief system into a particular Institution's goal.I have had the great benefit of working with some outstanding Professionals who have shown me the way. Years ago, one Supervisor gave me some words of direction that I continue to repeat in my head under certain circumstances. One direction was, "When you come through that door, you're 'on'. Leave your private life outside of those doors and do your job- even if you have to act the part".This direction helped free me from having to put my heart into my job. I only had to act the part, and I knew my job, so the process was not a difficult one.Another direction entailed responsibilities. The Supervisor compared our jobs: "My job is no more important than yours. We just have different responsibilities. One of my responsibilities is to supervise the staff and delegate duties. You don't have to like those duties. You only have to do them".Again, this direction helped to free me from my own opinion of a particular duty. No matter what I thought of the duty, whether I disagreed with it or liked it, or whatever, I merely had to do it.This process was helped tremendously by the fact that I held my Supervisor in the highest esteem. It takes a lot more work and energy to perform duties to a high standard of completion when the Supervisor is not respected or liked.However, not liking or respecting someone is a personal belief. And always putting "principles before personalities" is a worthy endeavor that will further any cause.Thanks so much for your great article, jadelpn. And for allowing me to consider and comment on it.Dave

With all of the waitressing and retail jobs to pay for nursing school it has provided me the art of customer service. It all starts with a smile. It's my game face, I say hello to everyone, ask "is there anything else you need?", etcI may go home not even thinking about it but when 640 hits for shift it's game on. Hair in place, lipstick and smile.I know it's numbers but numbers mean my job and I'm good at it. I like it. I need it. I do what needs done to keep it. So smile on I go!

Interesting article. I wrestled with this when I first went into nursing. I don't think you can or should care too deeply and personally about any of your patients, or you'll go nuts. As nurses, we do care -- that's why we take the time to situate someone comfortably in bed, or remove dressings carefully so as to cause the least amount of pain. But this job demands a detached attitude if you're going to do what's best for the patient.I learned this on my first fasciotomy patient. He had long open wounds up each leg, and I had to change his dressings. It was, as you might imagine, a very painful procedure to undergo. I was so distressed by the patient's obvious pain that I wasn't quite as efficient at the job as I should have been -- my empathy made it take longer than it had to. If I'd been more detached -- less in tune to the pain I was causing -- the job would have been over faster and been less difficult for the patient to go through.

In today's corporate health care it is all about the act. Customer Service reigns supreme! Fortunately I know how to play the game. Smile on, fluff the pillow, re-position, offer the pain meds. have them wash up. Tell them "How about when you walk after b-fast I have your pain meds ready " set appropriate boundaries. talk with respect but firm tone. Ask them if they need anything else. Rinse/ Repeat.I look at my job like I am the worlds greatest actress. Because when my feet are sore, my back is tired and I haven't had a break I am still able to give great, efficient care by playing my nursing role. At the end of the day I get a paycheck. It can be draining at times but I have learned to re-energize myself outside of work. I use that paycheck to fuel the things I truly care about (My family, my travel, my hobbies....)

Not caring about my patients is one of the easiest ways I keep work at work.

I've resolved to the fact that the practice of competence and respect can equate to empathy and caring to the population and this business.I've decided to state my job is to be a "healing manager"; that is, we give our patients the ability to manage their health; we are able to provide the hands on experience, and we pass the information along; we educate and counsel to get to the root cause, especially for the chronics; each visit can e approached like a 12-step program; working to "heal", meaning, getting to a point where "healthy" can be meeting a patient where they are and going from there each step. It is not easy, but can be very creative...one has to like whether remotely or piqued in interest of critical thinking, detective work, philosophy and or life planning to interact and manage people in their vulnerable, sometimes flaming, car crash type of life that could potentially appear at any shift-sometimes they do get better, and sometimes they don't, but that comes with the territory, and I respect that part of the business as much as I respect my patients and above all, my practice; everything else goes from there.

Yeah, competence and civility trump caring and empathy every day of the week.Still, I care about my patients' pain level, comfort and dignity beyond simply my professional obligation to do so. I don't get emotional about it nor am I demonstrative, but I agree with the poster who said not caring at all is called being a sociopath.

In my opinion nursing is the hardest job there is. It requires knowledge,skill, patience,and always having to deal with the unexpected. How you choose to do your job depends on how you perceive the job Everyone is different in that respect.That nursing is the most respected profession goes to the public perception of what nurses are asked to do mentally and physically every day. Patients often have to share their most intimate secrets and have you witness them while in pain,fear,and disability.Let us not forget we are there to serve, but not be servants either to patients,families or physicians.