5 Things That Only Nurses Understand Best

Nurses play a very important role in the healthcare system. They are often referred to as the heart of healthcare. Nursing is a vibrant profession and nurses play so many roles juggled into one. They act as a caregiver, communicator, patient advocate, and teacher. With so many roles and responsibilities, there are a few things that only nurses can truly understand. 

1. Life is Fragile - The average person experiences the tragedy of death only a few times in life. Whereas a nurse deals with death and illness on a regular basis. It isn’t wrong to say that a nurse fully understands how fragile life really is. Nurses hear and see the stories of people who were doing fine and then suddenly found themselves lying sick or on their death bed in the hospital. A nurse’s emotional ups and downs are very different from the ones experienced by other people.
2. Health is Wealth - Nurses treat many patients everyday that are sick from a food-related illness. Therefore, nurses understand very well the importance of a healthy diet and good health. Preaching to patients the importance of proper nutrition and exercise is a common practice among doctors and nurses.
3. Value of Listening - A nurse is an effective listener and knows well the power of listening and showing empathy. Nurses spend more time with patients than doctors do. They always listen to patient stories, problems, and other concerns. Sometimes, even more than medicine, a patient needs someone who listens and shows empathy. This is another way that nurses play a critical role.
4. Seeing the Human Body From a Clinical Perspective - As a nurse, seeing people naked is part of their everyday job. Nurses care for many patients, giving them sponge baths, catheters, and at times, also helping clean waste from their body. Nurses learn to see the human body from a clinical perspective.
5. Joy of Seeing Your Patient Recover - Each job has its own set of rewards. In the field of nursing, seeing patients recover, or leaving the hospital healed, is the most rewarding part of their job. Nurses feel satisfied when they see a patient going home with a big smile. Being part of that healing process makes it even more special.

The life of a nurse is challenging. Nurses are always supposed to be ready for the unexpected. Because of their profession, nurses understand life from a different perspective that regular people aren’t able to fully comprehend. 

Learning is a part of every nurse’s career and nurses do it each day through practical experiences. Continuing education, even after working as a nurse, can take you to even greater heights in your career. With good job prospects, better earnings and growth, continuing education for nurses is always a great decision. To specialize in a field of your choice, INSCOL offers specialized nursing programs for internationally educated nurses. To learn more about the available courses, visit at www.inscol.com.

What Phrases Nurses Say Most While at Work?

Seems like an unconventional topic of research, a popular portal for nurses conducted the World’s Most Unscientific Survey! Around 37,034,686 nurses participated in the survey and asked to answer one simple question - What phrase you say most during the day?

The responses were overwhelming and surprising too as some of them shared conventional, practical, useful answers that made us to take them out as clear outliers. Next was the remaining ones and from approximately 65,023 responses, we found the below listed phrases said by nurses more frequently as compared to others. Let’s take a look here - 

• "No problem! I'd be happy to change your TV station again. What else would I do with all of my free time?"
• "Sorry, your insurance doesn’t cover the good Tylenol."
• "You won’t feel a thing."
• "You’ll have to ask your doctor that. And after he answers, could you clue me in?"
• "This won’t hurt a bit. Trust me, all the times I've attended this procedure, I've never felt a thing!"
• "Ring that call bell one more time and just see what happens." (Generally not said very loudly.)
• "No, I will not give you a sponge bath."
• "And how do you wipe your butt at home?"
• "You're going to feel a little prick…unless you don't settle down, in which case it's square needle time... those suckers hurt!"
• And the best one, always said with a big smile: "I’m sorry to wake you, Doctor.."

If you are a nurse and often say something that sounds unusual or rare, list them in the comments. We would be glad to include and share them with the nursing fraternity.