The nurse author shares stories from his 32-year profession

David Daniels, RN, knew he desired to develop into an emergency room nurse. He went to highschool and got his dream job at an instructional hospital.

His 32 years of service, including working as a nurse primarily in hospital emergency departments, were at times chaotic – brutal, frustrating and demoralizing, with extreme highs and lows. Like many nurses, Daniels considered leaving the occupation. David Daniels, RN But the 61-year-old nurse is the writer of a brand new book “Oh, sister! One man’s journey through nursing life, a personal account of the ups and downs. she stated that, after all, nursing is a sacred profession. “It’s a very demanding job if you take on the responsibility,” Daniels said. “You are present at birth. You are present at death. You’re dealing with people who aren’t actually having the best day of their lives. You deal with trauma, death, and addiction. And it’s really the ER nurse who holds it all together. It is difficult and can be thankless. You may work with employees or doctors who can be very condescending [you think] Why would I do this to myself?” Even though she commonly struggles with tragedies at work, Daniels confirms that being a nurse remains to be the best occupation on the earth.

Suitable for ED

The nurse wrote that she thrives amid chaos. “It makes my mania worse or something. The busier I’m, the faster I work, the broader the smile on my face,” he said. Daniels said that while working in the academic emergency department, everything flowed like a well-running machine. The doctors were passionate and brilliant, which helped create a culture of erectile dysfunction where doctors and nurses always learned and worked as a team. “It was just a great place to work,” he said. His career also included nursing work in hospitals where the culture was very different.

“I really stepped up and got to places where, because I worked in that environment, I just couldn’t do it,” Daniels said. “I worked in an emergency department where I have never encountered a more dysfunctional group of people.”

He said he will never be able to understand the behavior of some colleagues who allow charts to pile up and do not bring patients back. “The truth could be that they’d one thing in common: all of them hated patients,” the nurse added. Daniels said he didn’t have a poker face, and when he expressed his opinion, colleagues could see dissatisfaction with the way patients were treated. “It didn’t work out well for me,” he said.

How nurses can make a difference

The writer-nurse shared one of the saddest stories of his career, which happened one Christmas Eve. He had finished his 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift and was leaving to prepare gifts for his children when Daniels’ manager said they were short of labor and asked if he could work a double.

“It’s Christmas Eve and I desired to go home, but they were stuck – and it’s hard for me to say no – so I said I’d work half the shift,” he said. “About that time the paramedic radio came on and it was a young girl in cardiac arrest. She had severe hypovolemia and electrolyte imbalance, so she was kept in her father’s arms.”

Her parents took her to the emergency room, where Daniels and staff did everything they could to resuscitate the baby, but to no avail. “I ended up staying until 7 a.m.,” he said. “I was with my parents. I sat with them and talked. We really couldn’t understand anything. But I got them to the point where they were able to get out of the hospital, get in their car and drive away unaccompanied. daughter. Somehow I managed to make this transition easier for them.” According to Daniels, this history is one of the reasons why nursing is the most sacred of professions.

Nursing – the best job in the world

Daniels said that once, while evaluating an employee, a manager asked how the employer could improve the employee’s situation.

“I just told her you guys give me a good salary for a good day at work. I bring my own water and coffee, I’m happy,” he said. “And her jaw hit the ground.”

One of the explanations Daniels loves this job is the relationships he has built along with his co-workers and patients. “I want to be a good nurse,” he said. “For some reason, I was blessed with the opportunity to become a good nurse. When I am caring for a patient, I look him straight in the eye and he looks at me. They know they have someone. who takes care of them. Whatever I do during my time here on earth, I try to help others, which gives me great satisfaction.” He said that relationships and bonds with colleagues are priceless. He describes working along with his group of friends over time as “phenomenal” despite sometimes difficult circumstances.

“The environment wasn’t optimal – there was chaos, all the sadness and stress – but when they came back and said, ‘Dave, when I worked with you, I knew it was always going to be a good day.’ “This stuff is like nectar,” Daniels said.

Some of those co-workers encourage Daniels to wish to be higher. Daniels also said that physicians who exemplify medicine of their passion and professionalism lead Daniels. “While their knowledge and skills may have highlighted my imperfections, I found it to be extremely motivating and inspiring,” Daniels said. “I wanted to go home, read more and learn more so that I could work productively alongside them and even predict what their next move would be. Working side by side is really cool.”

Advice from a writer-nurse

Ms. Rae, one in all Daniels’ nursing school instructors, told Daniels to take time to clean up and deal with himself because nursing would chew him up and spit him out when there was nothing left of him.

“I didn’t understand it then, but I certainly understand it now,” he said. “So take some time to freshen up. Do things that fill your soul. Develop a thick skin and learn not to take anything personally, because that will get you in trouble.”

The nurse writing said she was hopeful “Oh, nurse!” is becoming required reading in nursing schools, offering real insight into a few of the ups and downs of a profession. Because in response to Daniels, anyone can develop into an RN, but not everyone will develop into a nurse. There is a difference. She also hopes the book will make nurses and doctors take into consideration how they’ll treat one another. “Nurses, doctors and other health care professionals take pride in the excellent care they provide to their patients,” he said. “Maybe they should extend the same care to their colleagues.”

Take these courses at ED:

This module provides nurses with an understanding of the history, types and methods of patient triage in emergency departments, with particular emphasis on five-tier triage systems. As nurses, we all know that we involve members of the family in patient care. However, we’d ask, “Should family members be able to watch the resuscitation?” and “Should they be able to touch the patient?” These questions concern the presence of a member of the family during code situations and invasive procedures. By knowing the history of family presence and its associated concerns, legal implications, and policy recommendations, nurses can be higher in a position to support patients and families. This module uses the updated 2015 CPR guidelines to assist “reanimate” nurses’ knowledge and skills for evidence-based practice, and reviews the newest recommendations. The “look, listen and feel for breathing” directive is not any longer really useful to help in the popularity of an arrest. However, the important principles of cardiopulmonary resuscitation remain the identical, with minor changes in compression and respiratory, in addition to the medications used.