Another crazy three days at work and I begin to think about the similarities of Seal Team 6 and nurses. Methodical. Precise.
Nursing is not a glorious profession. Even though my father thinks I sit at the bedside of the sick and dying and hold their hands all day, the fact of the matter is, I simply do not have the time. We run around attempting to tread water with the amount of things we need to do, and often we find ourselves drowning. We hope we can make it through but as we walk the hospital halls we hear the chanting: “Nurse Sarah Beth, KIA.” But take heart, 12 hours later we leave, and at the end of the day you can’t help but think: mission accomplished.
Nursing’s version of training time in Dam Neck is in the day to day activities around the hospital. We learn to juggle the needs of patients, the doctors, the pharmacists, the technicians … should I go on? We perfect our skills on these “normal” days. We become quick at what we do for we know a time will come when our refined skills will be desperately needed.
Then that day comes. The day when you have two patients crashing at the same time. The patient is vomiting blood when you need to push fluids. But you need a better IV line first. You get the 18 gauge needle in while the patient is retching in pain. You need the blood for the transfusion, but you can’t go to the blood bank to get it because the patient next door is becoming hemodynamically unstable. You grab help from your team and send someone to the blood bank while you rush into the room and try to figure out what is going on. You quickly assess the situation and make a game time decision to call for back up. Then the bedside heart monitor malfunctions. No matter. (Don’t) Burn it and call for the extra around the corner on the code cart. (I’m going to stop now with the graphic details because I know you are all starring at your computers like you are in the situation room.)
The most elite seal team amazes me in their ability to perfect their craft and execute their mission with perfect precision.
Elite nurses do the same thing. No, we don’t take down most wanted terrorists, but we do bring precision to the craft of saving a life.
Sarah Beth Cowherd is a nurse who blogs at SaraBethRN.com.
Image credit: Shutterstock.com
