Gwen - Knowledge Lets Me Trust My Intuition

Gwen -







I’ve always striven to learn everything I possibly can. It’s important for nurses to continually study and learn new things throughout their careers, because the larger your knowledge base, the more confidence you have in your intuition. There is so much more to know than what is in the textbooks at nursing school.

Intuition comes naturally to me. I walk into a room and know immediately if a patient is not doing well and if I should call a doctor. I’ve learned to trust myself and my instincts and pick up on the little nuances, like maybe their blood pressure is within normal limits, but it’s a lot higher or lower than it was then they came in. Or the patient is breathing a little harder or their skin color isn’t good. Being able to pick up on those things helps me advocate for the patient. I know what they need, even when they don’t ask for it. I can sense things about people, like when they are uncomfortable or sad. Some nurses will hesitate to call the doctor to say this patient isn’t doing well because they don’t have enough knowledge to be able to put the pieces together.

I’ve called doctors at night and told them that this and this and this is wrong. Then the doctor gives me an order, or maybe they don’t. I’ve told those doctors, “You know what? You need to come in here. This patient needs medical intervention, not nursing assessment.” And every time the patient I called about ended up with some big medical procedure that needed to be taken care of right away.

I don’t hesitate to put my arm around my patients and give them a hug, hold their hand, or whatever I feel they need to make them better. Sometimes nurses get so focused on physically taking care of the patients that we forget the patients’ emotions and spirit; their need for contact and love and to know somebody cares. I always cry with families when someone dies. People appreciate that their family member was important to me and it matters to me that they died.

I once had a surgery patient I saw all the way through his procedure. I got him ready for surgery, recovered him and provided patient teaching along the way. When I was sending him home he reached over and took hold of both of my hands and said, “You know things and you use that to help people.” It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck because I knew that, but I never heard it verbalized.

He was right. I do know things about people and I use that in my practice and in my life. It’s made a big difference in the outcomes for my patients. I’ve worked with other nurses whose values I appreciate and try to emulate. I’ve worked with nurses who have a wonderful sense of humor and no matter how mean and ornery their patients are, they walk into the room and just crack up laughing. They have a way of using humor to connect with their patients. They don’t take it personally. It’s a great talent to develop.

I’ve been impressed by nurses who were completely non-judgmental. They never judge people because of their lifestyle or culture – everyone they encounter is treated wonderfully. Every patient has worth.“I’ve learned to trust myself and my instincts and pick up on the little nuances that help me be a strong advocate for the patient. I know what they need, even when they don’t ask for it." I’ve worked hard to be like those nurses. My ability to nurse is enhanced by my respect for cultural differences. If a patient’s culture has taught them to defer to a certain family member for answers, then I have to respect that and go to that family member and involve them in planning the patient’s care. If a patient’s culture has taught them to be modest and they believe in being covered, then I have to take special care during their bath or dressing change to keep everything as covered as I can. If I see a doctor come in and whip off the covers and lift the gown to check out their dressing, I position myself so I can get the gown pulled down as far as possible or cover their legs with the blanket, to help support their cultures, beliefs and standards.

I’ve always seen myself as a professional. I know some nurses believe they are below the physicians, but I’ve never felt that way. Nurses are separate and distinct from doctors. We have different legal privileges, because they can write the orders and write prescriptions, but on the same hand I have the ability not to follow those orders if they are detrimental to the patient. Nurses provide a lot of care for the patients that the physicians don’t know how to provide. We need both physicians and nurses to work as a team for complete care of the patient. I present myself as an asset and a part of the team, so the physicians always treat me that way. Physicians will ask my opinion as much as I will ask theirs. I feel respected and sought after by everyone I work with. I’ve always thought of myself as a consultant, advocate and practitioner – more than just a worker.

My confidence comes from very early in my career. One of my first jobs was in a little 40-bed hospital. After working there about four months I took the night shift supervisor position and for two years I did everything. I was the ER nurse at night and I relieved the floor nurse for breaks. The hospital had a 4-bed ICU and I relieved the ICU nurse for breaks. When a patient came into the ER, I set up the breathing treatments and drew blood and put it in the centrifuge to spin and called the lab technician that was on call and turned on the X-ray machine and called the X-ray person who was on call and got the supplies from the storeroom and food from the cafeteria. It was a great base for experience.

I’ve always been a “teacher” and whether I’m teaching things to my patients or to other nurses, I use my intuition to teach without making people feel like they are stupid or have a knowledge deficit. I see other nurses being abrupt or demeaning or condescending when they try and explain something that they think people should know. I don’t think they even realize that they’ve assumed a discouraging attitude with people. That can be detrimental to new nurses. You can’t teach someone if they don’t feel you respect them as a person.

Nurses are just like everybody else. Some are more nurturing than others. Some learn more easily and some are more motivated. The population of nurses is a reflection of the population in general. Personally, I think having good people skills is good for your whole life. It helps you relate to everybody better. But it’s especially important for bedside nursing and especially for those who are preceptors and mentors and teachers of our students. Nursing instructors need to have a passion for nursing and for learning. It’s important for them to convey that to students. It’s important for the managers and nursing instructors to work together to make sure students get mentored by the nurses that are nurturing. I see nurses that have been working for 30 years and are very good at nursing, but they’re not good with new graduates. Some new nurses give up early in their career, not because of the patients or physicians, but because other nurses don’t help or support them. We need to recognize the bad teachers and limit students’ contact with them as much as possible.

I love nursing; it’s my life. I am passionate about quality in nursing and in nursing education. Some of my son’s friends want to be nurses and I always make a point to tell them that it is a great profession and I’m very happy to be a nurse. It’s all I ever wanted to do. There isn’t even a word to describe how I feel inside about what I do. I have tried and tried to find the right word, but every time I think about it, all I come up with are tears of joy. I’m honored to have found my calling.

Power Strategies: Intuition, Passion, Respect
go back to main page