I entered my freshman year of college thinking I wanted to be a pediatric oncology nurse. Little did I know that God had other plans for me. When I started doing clinical rotations in the hospital my sophomore year, I realized that working on a typical floor didn't really feel like home. It wasn't until my junior year when I realized that Emergency Nursing and Critical Care Nursing was what I wanted to pursue.
Nurses come in many different flavors, and Critical Care nurses just happen to be one of those flavors. It's really good that not everyone wants to be a Critical Care nurse because we need people on oncology and general medical units. Most nurses should be able to recognize life threatening changes in their patients, regardless of where they work and hopefully most nurses know what to do during a code. What makes Critical Care nurses different is their passion for the patients deemed the sickest of the sick, the ones who might need a little extra compassionate care and psychosocial support. Critical Care nurses care for the very young, the very old and everything in between. We care for those who very close to death and those who were just brought back from the edge. We see people as they are born into the world and as they leave it. We are able to manage and maintain multiple lines, multiple drips and multiple machines, and subsequently, explain their purpose and function to anyone who asks. We can detect changes in our patients that indicate a pathophysiological condition before lab values return to confirm the diagnosis.
Critical care nursing is intense, sometimes chaotic, potentially traumatic, and in some ways, addicting. It’s the adrenaline rush you get when you push adenosine and wonder if your heart will stop if / when your patient’s does. It’s the grief-stricken, desperate look on a family member’s face when they see their loved one crashing — they look to you in the hopes that you will be able to do something, anything. It’s more than just treating patients who are seriously ill, it’s being able to provide support for the families as well. It’s collaborating with doctors, nurses, respiratory and anyone else around because you know that you cannot do this alone. But the most important aspect of critical care nursing is respect. Respect for your colleagues, respect for the doctors, respect for the families and most importantly, respect for your patients. No matter the physical condition of the patient, their past or what is going on currently, patients always deserve to be treated with respect. They deserve to be treated as people first, not as just another disease process. Not every patient will be easy to care for. Not every patient's family will be easy to talk to and connect with. But no matter the circumstances, everyone deserves your respect.
Nursing isn't for everyone, and critical care nursing isn't for every nurse. Wherever your calling is, follow it. Pursue it. Enjoy it. And encourage others to do the same.
