IF YOU AREN’T SCARED
I was talking with some of my fellow PICU nurses about fear in the ICU. We all agreed that there is always fear in our job. Sometimes you feel it on the way to work when you know a sick child will be your responsibility for 12 hours. Sometimes it’s when you are doing your Q1H neuro checks and you wonder if their pupils were actually brisk or if they might have been more sluggish than the last hour. Sometimes it’s after you give report and you remember something that you didn’t mention to the oncoming nurse. Sometimes it’s in the middle of the night or when you come to work and learn that they coded later or deteriorated after your shift.
I just saw a post about feeling responsible for deaths even if it wasn’t your shift and it’s so true. You think if you caught on to something or reported something or given that certain extra care you could have prevented that loss and grief. A lot of times this guilt and anxiety is unwarranted but there is always fear and anxiety when you are responsible for someone’s livelihood (especially a child, I would argue)
Some fear is unhealthy and stops us from doing our job or caring for ourselves. Some fear is absolutely necessary to push us to do better, pay more attention, advocate harder, and feverishly pursue greatness.
(via rnstudentlife)
