Nursing

My job scares me. The doctors tell me that is one reason why I am a good nurse, because I never get comfortable. I am always on my toes, preparing for what could possibly go wrong. This may sound pessimistic but in times of emergency it really pays off to be prepared. When it comes to an emergency every second is important.

I feel that working at a rural hospital has really helped me grow as a nurse more so than any of my other jobs. I am a pediatric nurse, a medical/surgical nurse, an OB Triage nurse, an antepartum nurse, a labor and delivery nurse, a postpartum nurse, a nursery nurse, and a hospice nurse.

 "A nurse is one who opens the eyes of a newborn and gently closes the eyes of a dying man. It is indeed a high blessing to be first and last to witness the beginning and end of life.

-unknown

Because I work in a rural hospital I really have to know my material well. Not only because I work multiple departments, but also because much of the time I am by myself. I am constantly learning and reviewing. I feel inadequate. However, then you have a moment where you realize that although there is still so much to learn you are capable of providing excellent patient care and you can respond well in a difficult situation. That all the classes, reviewing, and practice simulations to keep you up to date are well worth the time.

I had a newborn that I was caring for who had a capillary blood sugar of 23. Per our Banner policy this calls for immediate IV start, stat serum blood glucose, a continuous  D10 infusion following a D10 bolus. I immediately took that baby back to our nursery and had an IV in, labs drawn, and my stat serum glucose sent off to lab, and the bolus given in a total of 15 minutes.  By the time I got my stat serum glucose result back from lab, which ended up being a low critical glucose on that baby of 12, I had that baby's blood sugar stabilized. Wow was I relieved that I was able to stabilize the baby's sugars so quickly.

I had my first postpartum hemorrhage a few weeks ago. The patient tore out her IV on accident while pushing. We were unable to not start the Pitocin drip through her IV and she started to bleed excessively. In a matter of ten minutes that patient received two intramuscular doses of Pitocin, a dose of Methergene, a dose of Cytotec rectally all to help control her bleeding, and I was able to start a new IV. We were able to keep blood loss to under 600mL, a category I postpartum hemorrhage, because we were prepared.

Sometimes life ends before it really ever began and that by far has been the most difficult for me as a nurse. How do you comfort a family who is grieving for their baby that they never got to see take a breath of life? I assisted in a delivery of a stillborn a few months ago and there were no words shared between the family and the staff, only tears. It is quite remarkable how quickly we become attached to those little ones as we feel them move around in our stomach and anticipate their arrival. That by far is the area that I feel the most inadequate, I feel I can offer no comfort to that family. Losing a loved one is never easy whether they are a newborn or 90 years old.

I love my job. I love being a nurse. I can be in a difficult situation and I can do what is needed of me. I was blessed in my patriarchal blessing that I would have the spirit with me while I care for my patients and that I would feel promptings what I needed to do. I truly feel that the spirit is with me helping me watch over my patients. What a nice comfort that is.

I feel really blessed to have the career that I have. I am also grateful that the people I work with feel that I do a good job and that I have patients that appreciate me as a nurse. I feel like being a nurse is not just my job, but one of my callings in this life.

 "Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling."

-Vincent van Gogh

I received an award at the beginning of the year from work called the Daisy Award and even made it in our little paper, The Lake Powell Chronicle. I was not going to post about my award on my blog because I did not want to seem like I was bragging. However, I feel really humbled that I was given this award and would like to remember the moment. Here is my banner that hung in my unit.

Here is a clip from the newspaper article.

The Daisy Award, one of the biggest honors a nurse anywhere can receive, was awarded to Juliann Dalton.

“Juliann is so welcoming and knowledgeable,” said Susan Eubanks, chief of nursing at the hospital. “She is caring and kind to her patients. Juliann teaches with kindness and patience. She works with a cheerful disposition. She sees what needs done and always helps others.”

The Daisy Award began in the early 1990s after a young man named Patrick J. Barnes was hospitalized with an illness. Barnes eventually died after his hospitalization, but his parents were so moved by the care he received from nurses, they created the Daisy Foundation in his memory. Through the foundation, hundreds of hospitals across the country honor their best nurses with the Daisy Award program.

At Page Hospital, patients can nominate nurses throughout the year and only one is awarded the Daisy Award.

“Juliann is one of our young nurses,” Eubanks said. “The passion she brings to her nursing is a calm passion. She goes above and beyond. She definitely brings that care out into the community. She’s amazing.”