Love what you do

If I was given a $1 dollar for each time I met a nurse that said they hate their job, I would be able to send a student to nursing school on a full scholarship! LOL  

The truth is nurse don't hate their jobs, they hate their employer. 

When I became a nurse, I (kinda) knew what I was getting into. I knew that I would be taking care of people in their most vulnerable state, I knew that I would have to utilize CPR to save a life during an emergency and I knew I would be working in an honorable profession that would make my Nigerian parents proud. What I didn't know was how important it was to work for a hospital that values me as a nurse. During my last semester of nursing school the only thing that was on the mind of me and my classmates (besides graduating, of course) was getting a job. It was nerve wrecking to hear chatter about who was offered a position after graduation while still I was waiting for an interview call from one of my 50 billion hospital applications. No one cared about the hospitals rating or reviews at that time, we were just happy to get an offer from any hospital that was willing to take a new graduate with zero experience. 

But after working at that bedside gathering my "experience", I started looking at job opportunities at other hospitals because I was frustrated with the over load of assignments due to constant shortage of staffing on my unit. I was irritated by all the policy/process changes in our hospital without a single person from administration including staff nursing in the conversation of change and when they did include us, it fell on (non-clinical) deaf ears. I didn't hate my job....I just hated not being valued as a nurse from my employer. I hated not having someone to advocate for me when I voice out my concerns for my patients or when I had an idea that could help our unit. Looking for another job that could potentially have the same problems was my easy way out, not realizing that there was a solution right at my finger tips! In order for my voice to be heard and help advocate for change on our unit, I had to find a way to get to right people who will listen and that meant I had to get actively involved in my hospital. To do so, I had to join and help establish committees on my unit, which by no means was easy.... but little did I know this would be the beginning chapter of loving what I do as a nurse. 

stay tuned...