As I was reading my morning devotion I really had a revelation. The Lord has been working in me to help me realize the reasons I struggle so much in daily life. I have always known the Lord and have been brought up to put the Lord first. But, because we are human and are of the flesh, we tend to be selfish most of the time. I have been looking around closely at different people and paying attention to those that are most happy with their lives and careers and one characteristic is most evident in their lives. They spend most of their time doing for others.
My most difficult struggle right now is finding out my purpose for life. As a nurse, my jobs have always been caring for others and when I am with a patient, one on one it brings a joy to them and to me that is indescribable. The joy quickly diminished when either the visit had to be cut short due to rushing to get to the next patient or the overwhelming amount of paperwork to finish to bring an end to the day. Which, by the way, never ended.
Home care nursing is a service that is fantastic and allows a patient to remain in the home more comfortably than they could in a hospital or nursing home. The satisfaction that it brings to the patient and the caregivers is immeasurable. There has to be a way to prevent the stress levels of the caregivers so they can balance their career with their families and personal lives.
I realize that documentation has to be done. I realize that measures have to be taken to ensure safety for the patients and the caregivers. Do all of the safety measures and paperwork have to be done by the nurse in the field? Can they hire nurses to do safety protocol? Will they keep adding paperwork to the already overloaded nurses and not compensate for their extra time and effort? I was constantly asked by my husband when I came home and told him about a meeting that "We have to fill out this now too!" "Well, are they going to pay you for it?" The answer was always no.
Being self employed with my husband in a small business I understood that this was wrong for them to do, but never stood up for my rights as a human being or the rights of others. I ended up becoming frustrated with the job. I was very passive in my role as an employee because I did not want to be a trouble maker or a complainer all the time. The few times I did stand up for myself, I was always met with statements such as: "You knew how home nursing was before you took this job" or "Your being viewed as not being a team player" then I would back down. My last act in the position was very passive aggressive. I agreed to be on the on call schedule when it was not required because I was told that all prn nurses had to go on call. I double checked to see if this was true, it wasn't. So I just did not show up. I quit the job. I should have stood up for my rights and took it to a higher level management. In turn, I did not help myself or help others who may have been feeling the same way.
I am a person that does not like confrontation. I am learning that being assertive is Christian. Be positive and assertive. Encourage others to do the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment