Nurses

Article by Breasia Bennett & Nyla Aimufia

Published in Spring of 2023

A common issue nurses have to deal with is they feel underestimated and given too little credit for what they do. A small number of people don’t appreciate nurses for their work. Such people believe a nurse’s job is easy and they are inferior to doctors. That's not true; there are many nurses who work just as hard as any other doctor or surgeon. Nurses deal with a number of stresses, deleterious patients, and mental health.

There are other issues society needs to address beyond misconceptions about nurses. Cindy Waymack, a licensed pharmacist. Waymack explained, there is a lot of pressure and stress put onto nurses as well as others if a hospital is short-staffed. Another issue is the mental and physical demand of focusing on patients and prioritizing that comes with taking care of them. A healthy nurse is a wonderful role model for patients, colleagues, and families. If a nurse isn’t healthy physically and/or mentally due to stress, it is more likely he or she will have conflicts with a patient, colleague, or even a family member. 

All the stress that will be built up inside a person will eventually come crashing down on someone else. Waymack added that if a nurse is in pain or not there physically or mentally, he or she will most likely carry on since it's their job to take care of patients while the doctor isn’t available. There are moments where patients are in distress or even violent and nurses end up having to take care of them in their times of need. Nurses still keep their cool and try their best to hold it together knowing a patient is in distress. It doesn’t excuse the violent behavior a patient has shown toward a professional. Hospital staff members are still people at the end of the day; they will be affected by their job but they end up loving what they do because they give it their best. Many never get to prioritize self-care within themselves. If they can’t take care of themselves how will they be able to take care of others? Respect goes both ways; it's not hard to be respectful.

Depression is another issue that goes unspoken by nurses. The nursing field is not as big on mental health and depression as it should be, so nurses often choose to keep it to themselves. Traumatic experiences are usually the source of nurse depression. Other issues in the nursing workforce would be inappropriate staffing and unhealthy work environments. When there is a problem with these two issues it’s most common that nurses will start to quit. That leads to hospitals being short-staffed and compounds the stress for the nurses who are still there. Not everyone would be able to get treated at the same time due to short staff.  

There are many ways to help nurses during times of high flu cases and other viruses. You could schedule your appointment ahead of time, and follow the recommended safety precautions and protocols. You could even donate blood to those in need. Just simply treating nurses how you want to be treated could be better than donating blood. Nurses would greatly appreciate people showing them the kindness that they put into their work every day. Nursing is not for everyone. It’s not as easy as some people think, so it's best if you are planning to become a nurse to not rely on someone else's assumptions and expectations.